Before the Fall
by SlverShdws
Summary: The way Raven saw it, there were only two choices: sit back and watch the world end, or step up and teach her father why you don't mess with mortals. The way Robin saw it, there was only one choice: help.
1. Conversations With An AntiChrist

High above the city the moon hung in the night sky, a pale and luminous pearl suspended from a string of shining stars that were scattered throughout the darkness. Down below, the sounds of cars passing through the streets and the unintelligible chatter of voices were muffled by the wind that coursed over the buildings like a tidal wave. It stirred the calm waters in the harbor, causing the sea to crash a bit fiercer against the rocks than it normally would. But the giant "T" shaped tower that stood in silent watch over the city paid the ocean little mind. For no matter how hard the waves broke against the foundations, the tower would never give in, would never fall to the constant strain pressed upon it from all sides. Cold and unfeeling as it was, it had a duty to perform. And it would continue to do so until the very fabric of the world was torn asunder.

Which might be sooner than it thought.

On the roof was a sole figure, perched on the edge like a bird settled on the branch of a tree. He too, ignored the grumblings of the sea, choosing instead to stare out at the mountains that rose as a backdrop to the glimmering city lights. The wind ruffled through his thick black hair, streaming it back away from the sharp angles of his face. The rich ebony locks matched the dark cape tossed negligently over his thin shoulders, both in color and in action. Every so often, when the wind gave a sudden gust, it would snap dramatically, like a flag at the top of a pole. His jaw was set firmly in a thin line and beneath a simple black mask, his eyes narrowed as if they had seen something unforgivable. But there was nothing before him. Only the city, the mountains, and the stars above them all.

A whisper came from behind him, an all but silent shift of air to signal movement. He tensed instinctively, bracing himself automatically for an attack that never came. A moment later his muscles relaxed when he caught a glimpse of familiar blue from out of the corner of his eye.

"Can't sleep?" he asked lightly, though the answer was obvious. There was only the wind, whistling along. And then a single, monosyllabic answer.

"No."

He leaned forward slightly, curling his fingers over the roof's edge. The seemingly endless empty space that stretched out before him did not bother him at all. In fact, it was oddly comforting to be so high up and balanced on such a narrow perch. It was not the danger that drew him to the edge; he felt more than safe teetering so close to the fall. He had always wanted to go further; to see how far he could fly before gravity would pull him down. Tragedy had not been able to steal that from him.

"What's keeping you up?"

"You are."

Surprised, he turned and looked over his shoulder. Her face was hidden with the dark folds of her cloak and her voice was flat, devoid of any emotion, as usual. He could only guess at the meaning behind her statement. Or, ask her.

"What do you mean?"

She raised her right hand, exposing soft grey skin to the moonlight, and tapped a finger against the side of her cowl.

"Your thoughts are louder than Starfire's exuberant bursts of joy over every new word she learns," came the quiet response.

Robin chuckled over the heavy veil of sarcasm that coated her voice. Like everyone else on the team, including Starfire herself, he was aware that Raven's apparent disdain for just about everything about the bright alien was merely for appearance sake. Just as everyone, including Starfire, knew that the Tamaranean took undeniably large amounts of joy from the simplest things.

"I'm sorry my thoughts are keeping you up. Can't you just block them out or something?"

There was a soft hiss, like that of a long sigh.

"Blocking keeps me from picking your thoughts from your mind. I'm not trying to read your mind; you're projecting it. Very loudly and very garbled," she added, with none small hint of annoyance. He chuckled again. Only Raven could say something like "Your thoughts are too loud" and not have it seem weird. Then he sighed as the humor fled, replaced by the frustration he had been feeling earlier.

"I'm sorry. It's just that—" he paused mid-sentence and raised one eyebrow slightly. "Do you think you could put your hood down? It always makes me feel like I'm talking to the Grim Reaper or something."

There was a brief hesitation as she considered his request, and then she raised one hand up, fingers curled into a fist. Black energy pulsed out and rose up to form a long, intangible sickle.

"Har, har," he said. "I'm serious."

The sickle dissipated into the air and she pushed her cowl back to her shoulders. He tilted his head slightly at the sight of her striking violet eyes, so unusual and so calm, seemingly untroubled. Pursuing his lips, he scratched at the back of his head.

"On second thought, maybe you ought to leave it up," he joked with a smile. Those unusual eyes narrowed instantly and his smile widened. He held up both hands in a gesture of peace, less she blast him off the rooftop into the great wide expanse that he had been admiring just moments before.

"I'm only joking. Honest."

"Beast Boy is _always_ only joking. Does that save him?"

"Good point." The smile faded from his lips and he turned back towards the mountains. "It's Slade. I can feel him circling in my head. Whispering. Taunting. Every time I turn around it seems like he's there, one step ahead of me."

Raven did not speak but he could almost hear the thoughts in her mind.

"I know what it is to live with someone caught up in obsession. I know what you all think. But I can't help it. How many times have we fought him? And every time, nothing new learned, nothing accomplished. He's still out there. Threatening. I can't help thinking that the longer we fight him, the more likely it becomes that one of us will be seriously hurt. Maybe . . . . maybe even killed." The word hung there between them in the darkness, heavy as a storm cloud.

"So what are you saying? That we should give up?"

Robin shook his head fiercely. "No, it's not that! It's just that . . . ." His shoulders slumped slightly. "A leader should be able to accept the risks, the dangers of any situation. And one of those dangers will always be the loss of a teammate. Of a friend. But I'm not sure that I could." He looked back at her and gave a small, sad smile. "Does that make me weak?" Though he asked the question lightly, his mind agonized itself over the thought.

_You can't afford to show weakness, Robin. You can't afford to be weak, Robin._

Raven was silent for a long while. She could see that her answer was important to Robin, so she wanted to be certain she gave him the best one that she had. But what comfort could she, of all people, offer him? She knew what life offered her, had always known. Death was something different for her. She was afraid of the future, of what she would invitibly bring into motion. What would death offer her? Peace? Rest? Her head tilted up toward the sky. The others saw only a dazzling display of tiny lights caught in an ocean of blackness. But to her, the night sky was an endless open book, with countless beginnings and endings, all occurring at the same time. It was the only thing on Earth that reminded her of her home.

"There are some who would say yes. Some who would say that any display of emotion is a sign of weakness." Her eyes were steady when they met his. "But only because those people don't understand emotion. That while it can sink one to his knees, it can also spur him upwards, to untold heights. It's not weak to fear death. Your death or the death of the ones you care about. It would be foolish not to. The others know the risks as well as you do, Robin, and accept them. Otherwise they wouldn't be here."

With that, she turned quietly to return inside, her cloak rustling behind her. Robin watched her retreating figure for a moment, his troubled thoughts comforted for the while.

"Raven!" he called out suddenly. She paused, but did not turn. "What about you?"

She was silent for so long that he thought she wouldn't answer him. And then the words drifted back.

"I don't do foolish."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Author's Note

This is just extra dialogue I wrote that I couldn't fit into the story without kind of messing up the seriousness. But it's funny so I wanted to keep it somehow.

RANDOM TITAN THEATER PRESENTS- " Further Musings of an Anti-Christ."

Robin: "Sometimes I feel so helpless. So useless. Like nothing I do matters. And everything I do is going to inevitably be compared to Batman. How do you compete with a legend?"

Raven: "Well, how do you think I feel? I'm destined to end the world. That's a big responsibility. What if I mess it up? I'll be known as the only anti-Christ who couldn't eradicate all of mankind and the measly planet they live on. I'll tell you, it keeps me up at night."

Robin: (stares wide-eyed, mouth gaping.)

Raven: ". . . . . Not funny?"

Robin: "Not so much, no."


	2. Time For A Little Bird Bashing

Author's Note

This is the chapter that refused to end. Sheesh.

RavenFlyingSolo: I'm probably going to be jumping back and forth between the show and the comics, not to mention making a bunch of stuff up. As for Raven reading minds, it has to do with the bond she shares with Robin from entering his mind. I'm going to go into it but I thought I'd clarify that she can't read anyone else's mind and she's not actually _reading_ his.

00000000000000

"Come on, Cyborg. Just a couple rounds?"

"No way Robin. Last time I had to replace my arm, not to mention I think part of your bo is still lodge in my head."

"Starfire?"

"Hmmm? As I recall Robin, our last encounter ended with the breaking of your wrist, which necessitated the plastering of your arm and you were most . . . . crabby? For several weeks."

"Right. Never mind. Beast Boy?"

"Dude, I know I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'm not that stupid."

"R—"

"No."

It was a perfect day. The sky overhead was a brilliant blue, completely devoid of any clouds and the sun shone brightly, its rays pouring down over the earth and everything on it. A light breeze blew in every once and a while, just to keep the temperature from climbing too high. The sea stretched out like a polished mirror, seeming to go on forever.

Deciding that a day like that shouldn't be wasted in doors, Robin had ordered all of the Titans outside. When that had failed, he had dragged them out one by one and deposited them down near the beach. Then, taking a page from Cyborg's book, he had locked the Tower doors and changed the pass code. Now he was trying to convince one of them that a great way to spend the day would be to spar with him. Crossing his arms over his chest, Robin studied the members of his team, searching each one for a weakness to exploit. Cyborg had plunked himself down onto a rock and was fiddling with the keyboard built into his arm. A brazen challenge would probably be enough to entice the man-machine. But since Robin could clearly see part of his bo staff protruding from the back of Cyborg's metal skull, he decided to skip over his friend. Behind his mask, his eyes shifted to the right. Starfire had wandered a little ways toward the beach, probably to check on the small garden she kept there. Absently he rubbed his wrist, half-remembering the searing hot pain that had shot up his arm. She was out. Beast Boy had transformed himself into a dog and was sprawled on his back, exposing his belly to the warm sunrays. Too easy. He turned his head to the left and his eyes narrowed speculatively.

She sat in the shade of a large boulder, her cowl drawn up despite the heat. A heavy looking book sat open on her lap and her eyes were focused intently on the page. A smile twisted his lips. In the past few weeks he had come to realize a few things about the dark empath. Despite all her control, she had almost as much trouble resisting a challenge as Cyborg had. That is, if you put the challenge right.

"Come on Raven. You're not _afraid_ to get your butt whooped, are you?"

Very slowly her eyes lifted until they met his. "Someone's gotten a little cocky."

His grin widened and he pretended to buff his nails on his tunic. "Well, maybe you should teach me a lesson or two."

She snapped the book closed with one hand and set it aside as she rose to her feet. "Oh, I'll teach you alright. We'll see how well you learn."

Beast Boy rolled to his feet and morph back into his human four, jaw hanging open from Raven's response. Then he glanced over at Cyborg's, whose eyes had widened as well. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Dude. This is going to be the coolest thing ever."

"Not if one of them dies."

Beast Boy waved the idea away with one green hand and rolled his eyes. "Please. Like Captain America over there wouldn't stop it from going that far."

Shading his eyes with his hand, Cyborg watched the two teens as they made their way over to the practice area, a contrast of motions; Robin's short, nimble steps and Raven's smooth, almost gliding gait.

"Twenty bucks says Raven takes him down," he predicted. Beast Boy stared at him in disbelief.

"No way. My money's on Robin, all the way. Ten minutes, tops." He scratched the back of his neck and shuffled slightly. "And I only got ten bucks."

"Deal. Let's go get better seats."

As they carefully picked their way over the island's rocky, uneven ground, towards the flat plateau they used to run obstacle courses, Robin snuck a few glances at his soon-to-be opponent. She was facing forward, eyes on the ground, her expression neutral. No anxiety, no excitement, no nerves. At least, not that he could see. Who knew what she could be thinking. But to all outward appearances, she was calm, as if she was just about to make some of her early morning tea. It occurred to him that he didn't know very much about Raven's fighting style; they'd never really gone hand-to-hand since she tended to rely on her supernatural abilities a great deal more. The things she could do with her mind never failed to amaze him but he found himself curious now about what she could do with just her body. He knew she had at least some martial arts training. They had battled briefly atop Wayne Enterprises when he had been working for Slade and he recalled that she hadn't had much trouble blocking his blows. But then, he'd only been going half-speed. He cracked his knuckles and promised himself that she wouldn't keep that calm demeanor for very long.

Robin would have been surprised at just how many thoughts were streaming through Raven's head as she walked a few yards away from him. Her supply of tea was running low; she needed to go to the store. The cape she was wearing was beginning to fray a bit at the edge. The Yankees had lost again last night. Fucking Jeter. What's the point of paying someone a hundred million dollars if all they're going to do is fly out? One of her library books was overdue. Or not. Maybe it was due next Tuesday. How had Slade gotten involved with Trigon? That hadn't been in the prophecy, had it? Where was she going to get a copy of the Prophecy? Had she packed one? She must have. In the blue chest? No, Malchior was in that one. Fucker. The white one? Maybe it was in one of her scroll cases. One of her socks had a hole in the heel. _Must remember to buy socks and tea._

They reached the practice area and turned to face each other. Dressed in a slightly bagging tuxedo, Beast Boy suddenly sprung up in between them and, reaching up, pulled a microphone down to his mouth.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of all ages, welcome to the main event! A colossal clash of Teen Titans! In this corner, standing five feet, five inches, weighing in at one hundred and ten pounds, deathly in need of some sunlight and hailing from God only knows where, is the Queen of All Things Creepy and Terrifying, the one, the only, RAVEN!"

Raven quirked one eyebrow in Beast Boy's direction. "Nice," she drawled sarcastically. "Why do I have to be announced first?"

The shape-shifter grinned. "It's alphabetical, baby."

"Super." Pause. "And don't call me baby."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. And in this corner, standing five feet, five inches, weighing in at one hundred and twenty-five pounds with his utility belt, personally trained by the Cape Crusader himself and probably color-blind, the Amazing Boy Wonder, ROBIN!"

Robin frowned at the green changeling. "What do you mean, probably color-blind?"

"Dude, have you ever LOOKED at your costume before?"

"What? It's blue, right?"

Cyborg popped in between them, placing one hand on Beast Boy's head and shoving him down. Over his cybernetic parts was a black and white stripped referee's shirt.

"Okay guys, I want a good, clean fight." He pointed one thick finger at Raven. "No powers."

"I won't need them."

The finger shifted to Robin. "No gadgets."

Robin bared his teeth. "Wouldn't want anyone breaking a nail."

"You might want to prep the Med-Lab Cyborg. Someone's alter ego is about to be broken."

"Yeah?" Robin drew his right arm back so that his hand was near his chin and he pushed his left hand forward, fingers curled slightly. The fingers of his right hand twitched slightly in a come-get-some motion. "Show me what you got."

She tilted her head, ever so slightly. "Visually challenged first."

His eyes narrowed at that and he leapt forward, swinging first with his right arm and then with his left, seeking to catch her off guard with simultaneous punches from both sides. Her hands flew out from within the depths of her cloak, crossing in front of her chest and blocking both strikes. Her fingers closed over his wrists, yanked them up, and then she drove her own fists into his chest. He flew backwards but managed to get one hand out in time to flip himself backwards and land gracefully on his feet.

A little surprised at her speed, Robin was forced to take a step back and reassess the situation. Raven might rely almost entirely on her abilities in battle, but that apparently did not mean she had been lax in training her body. _Well, alright._ His fingers flexed inside his gloves as he looked at her with a newly raised level of threat. She acknowledged the subtle shift in his stance with another slight nod. One hand flew out to the side, flinging her cloak back over her shoulder. The soft breeze caught it for a moment, snapping it dramatically before it settled into place. Her hands lifted to hover just under her eyebrows; her eyes watched him over her knuckles and she mimicked his earlier taunt. He grinned and dipped a little lower, hunching up onto the balls of his feet.

They shot towards each other as if in response to some unheard bang of a starting gun. Robin had always been confident in his abilities, even before Batman had trained him. Life with the Dark Knight had only served to heighten that confidence. Batman had taught him to trust his body and his mind, because undoubtedly someday, in some situation, they would be all he would have to rely on. So he took great pride in his martial arts skills and he didn't think it bragging when he considered himself the best fighter on the team. But Raven was making him reconsider that position. Every punch he threw was blocked, every kick failed to hit its mark. It was as if she knew exactly what move he was going to make a split second before he even knew. And the speed at which she threw out her own strikes was fast enough to give him no small amount of trouble.

Sitting up on the rocks above the practice area, Beast Boy and Cyborg watched the flurry of action going on below with a great deal of enjoyment. It was almost as if two of the best fighters from their favorite video game had suddenly come to life and decided to duke it out in front of them.

"Go Raven! Told ya she was going to kick his ass."

"Dude, please. He is so just toying with her right now."

Having finished tending to the small patch of Tamaranean plants she had brought to Earth with her, Starfire made her way over to where Beast Boy and Cyborg were sitting. Her eyes, however, were also caught on the two figures battling for bragging rights. She bit her lip as she watched one of Raven's strikes caught Robin under the chin, snapping his head backwards. He responded with a punch of his own that just barely grazed the empath's cheek but it was enough to have her leaping back, giving him room to plot his next move.

"Friends? Have Raven and Robin gotten into a disagreement?"

Beast Boy shook his head while taking a long slurp from a cup of pop and shaking a huge, red, foam finger that had ROBIN printed on it in white lettering. "Nope. Robin totally goaded Raven into sparring with him. And now they're battling it out for the Heavyweight Championship of the Tower."

"Well, Raven's battling it out. Robin's just sorta taking it like a little bitch," Cyborg corrected, letting out a loud "BOOH-YA!" when Raven landed another blow.

"I told you, he's toying with her. Just wearing her down. My ten bucks says he's gonna school her."

"Your ten bucks are going to be MY ten bucks in about two minutes."

Starfire stared at her two friends, shifted her eyes to the flurry of movement below, and then turned back. "Am I to understand that you two have placed monetary value on the outcome of Raven and Robin's sparring session?"

Beast Boy nodded. "Yep. You want in?"

She considered briefly. "Ten of the bucks that Robin shall be victorious."

Robin swung his arm out, knocking Raven's fist off course with his forearm. The longer they fought, the more he learned about her style and the easier it became to defend against. Easier maybe, but still not easy. He just barely managed to dodge a well-aimed kick. She wasn't quite as fast as he was but she was quick enough to prevent him from out-maneuvering her. His knee shot up just in time block another kick and he leapt up to avoid the cleverly timed leg sweep. He swung his fist down as he descended but only felt air as she stepped to the side. Hitting the ground, he immediately swung back with his elbow. Raven blocked the blow with both hands and stepped forward with her right foot into the back of his knee, pitching him forward. He grunted slightly as he fell to his knees; she kept her hold on his arm, shifting her grip into a very effective arm bar. If he couldn't out-maneuver her, the he was going to have to try and overpower her if he wanted to win. And he did want to win.

Before she could trap his legs and fully immobilize him, he shifted his legs beneath his and pushed off the ground into the air, flipping back over Raven's head. A jolt of pain shot through his arm before Raven released her hold on it; he'd pulled it just a little too far and probably hyper-extended it. Before she could recover from her surprise, Robin wrapped his good arm around her neck and gripped the wrist of his other arm, catching her in a choke hold that was loose enough to allow her to breathe, but tight enough to make movement difficult. And in that moment, he learned a number of interesting things.

She was small; despite the fact that he probably had at least a dozen bruises or so thanks to her, it felt like if he squeezed too hard, he would crush her. Her hair was soft against his cheek and smelled faintly of vanilla. And her ears were adorable; small and delicate. He couldn't resist placing his mouth close to one, his lips practically brushing it.

"Ready to say uncle?" he asked.

Raven's response was swift. Two hands flew up to grab hold of his forearm, tugging down. At the same time, she dropped her weight and bent forward, throwing him over her shoulder. Robin landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him. She was on him before he could think to move, pushing his injured arm down to the ground at a right angle. She slipped her own arm underneath his bicep and over his wrist, locking her fingers around her wrist. Then she lifted her arm slightly.

Pain flared up his arm again and he tapped the ground with his free hand to signal his surrender. Immediately she shifted her grip and he felt the cool, oddly numbing sensation that was the trademark of her healing powers. When she finished, he sat up and rubbed at his elbow while staring at her in disbelief. He'd lost. He couldn't believe it.

"You know how to wrestle?" he asked finally after a moment, unable to believe that Raven, _Raven_ of all people, had spent any amount of time rolling around on a gym mat. Raven pulled her cowl down and shook her head, smiling her slight smile.

"No," she said, reaching out to tap a finger against his forehead. "But you do."

He was instantly transported back to their conversation on the roof the night before. His eyes narrowed sharply. "You're going to have to show me how to control that."

There was a brief flash of something in her eyes before Raven rose smoothly to her feet and held out a hand. "Yes," she said a bit forcefully, making him wonder if that had been her mission all along. "In fact, why don't we do that right now?"

Robin chuckled as he clasped her hand and pulled himself up. "Are my thoughts that bad?"

"Oh, I suppose not. And I agree with you. Someone probably should explain the concept of underwear to Starfire."

He flushed scarlet and shot a sideways glance towards the alien girl who was deep in conversation with Cyborg. "Ah—"

"Beast Boy can be something of a slob but I don't think neutering him is the answer."

"Um—"

"Your porn tape? I found that the other day, underneath the couch cushion. I put it in the incinerator."

He shut his eyes. "Listen, Raven—"

"The probability of us ever having sex is slim to none, especially if you keep wearing those tights. It IS bound to cut off the—"

His eyes popped back open and he held up a hand. "OKAY! I get it. Let's go meditate. I've always wanted to learn."

000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITAN THEATER PRESENTS: "Alternative Uses For The Bible."

Raven: "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion—"

Beast Boy: "Don't you have any spells that don't use those words?"

Raven: (eyes him balefully and holds out finger) "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus—"

Beast Boy: "AHHHHHH! (runs away in terror)

Starfire: "Friend Raven, what are the meanings of those mystical words?"

Raven: "They aren't mystical words, Starfire. They're books of the Bible."

Starfire: "I see. And is this Bible a frightening book?"

Raven: "Only to the illiterate."

Starfire: "Then why did Beast Boy appear so frightened?"

Raven: "Were you under the impression that Beast Boy could read?"


	3. We Don't Use THAT Door

Author's Note

Thanks to everyone for the reviews, they've done wonders for my ego. : lovingly strokes Ego: Nice Ego. Good Ego. :CHOMP: uh…ouch. . . . :tries to tug arm out of Ego's mouth: . . . . he seems to have gotten a bit bigger. . . . um . . . little help? . . .anyone?

Anyway, for all you Raven / Robin fans, I know I haven't gotten to any gushy romantic bits yet but they're coming. If you want a bit of a sneak peak at a later chapter, you can check my profile for a link to a fancy picture my boyfriend and I cooked up.

Sorry this took a while to get up. I've been laid-low by a nasty bugger of a cold. It's complete rubbish.

Oh, and let me know if these chapters are too long and I'll try and break them up better.

00000000000000000000000000

"You know, Raven. If my thought . . . . uh . . . projecting bothered you so much, you really could have just told me. I would have tried to stop."

"I believe I did tell you."

"Well . . . yeah, but I mean. . . . I thought . . . that is, I didn't realize . . . . you're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

Raven shot a glance towards her leader and had to bite her bottom lip to keep from chuckling. Robin's face was scrunched up in a scowl; his lips were twisted together in a pout and his eyebrows were drawn together into a "V." He looked very much like a child who had been scolded by having a special privilege taken away from him. She didn't need to be an empath to know what the source of his irritation was, though she could feel the embarrassment rolling off of him in waves. Boys, no matter how well mannered, or how well versed in sportsmanship, did not take well to losing to a girl, and Robin was no exception to that rule. Though she was quite aware that she could level the entire city in two blinks of an eye, she wasn't offended by his attitude. It came from his intensely competitive nature. He would have been irritated if he had lost to anyone. It was difficult for her to be angry with him about that, since it was the part of his character that she liked best. His dogged determination and belief that he could be stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone else is what had drawn her to him in the first place. Humans. So intense. So passionate about everything. In Robin's world you either did or you didn't. There was no in-between. She admired that about him, even if he did tend to be a bit obsessive with it. And part of her, the part she was forced to keep ruthlessly locked away, wanted to experience that intensity. But though she herself could not, not without destroying everything she cared for, she could imagine what it was like through him.

"Naturally," she answered dryly and watched his face drop even further. Her heart gave a little sigh of pity. Really, it was such a little thing and pride, though dangerous at times, was so easily hurt and just as easily mended. "I did have a bit of an unfair advantage."

Robin perked up immediately at that, just as she had known he would. "Yeah? You did, didn't you . . . After you show me how to keep my thoughts in my own head, you want to go at it again?"

She raised an eyebrow. "And risk my bragging rights? When it snows in heaven."

Robin frowned again; he knew Raven wasn't from Earth originally, but it was usually Starfire who had trouble with familiar phrases. "Don't you mean, when it snows in hell?"

"Technically, that phrase is inaccurate. Some parts of hell are frozen wastelands."

He stopped walking and stared at the back of her head. Raven continued on for several feet before she noticed that he was no longer beside her. Curious, she glanced back over her shoulder to see him watching her with an expression that was partly interested and partly disturbed.

"Do I even want to know why you would know something like that?"

Sighing, she rolled her eyes and sat down, folding her legs underneath her. "It's called reading, Robin. Dante? _Inferno_? Ever heard of it? Ever do it?"

He settled on the ground across from her, mimicking her movements. "It's called fiction, Raven. As in not real. It's like believing in monsters or the Devil."

Raven waited until he had lifted his masked gaze to hers. "You should be careful what you don't believe in, Robin," she said, quietly. "There are monsters loose in the world and I assure you, the Devil does exist."

Robin saw the muscle along her jaw twitch as she clenched her teeth together and got the distinct feeling it was not a line of conversation she wanted to pursue. His mind, ever helpful, flipped through his files on the last few weeks; the return of Slade, the strange markings on her body, the damning Prophecy, the confession that Trigon the Terrible, the BFD of the demon world, was her father. If he had been double-jointed, he would have kicked himself in the head. Twice. He tactfully changed the subject.

"So . . . about controlling these thoughts? How do I do it?" he asked, shifted his head back and forth and rolling his shoulders.

A small smile wormed its way onto her face. He looked like a boxer, getting ready to square off. "Well first of all, the goal of mediation is to relax your mind, not kick the shit out of it. You don't really need to stretch."

He paused with one arm across his chest and the other pulling on it slightly. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Now, close your eyes."

He did so without hesitation and the small gesture tugged gently at her heart. It spoke volumes of his trust in her.

And then he ruined it.

"You're not going to take advantage of me, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see her. "Congratulations Bird Boy. You've uncovered my evil plot. Now I'm going to strip you naked and have my way with you. There's nothing you can do to stop me," she drawled.

One of his eyes popped open and he clucked lightly. "You know, I wouldn't really mind it all that much."

Raven chuckled and ran her tongue over her front teeth. "Oh, I know Robin. BELIEVE me, I know."

The eye snapped shut again. "So. Right. Anyway. My eyes are closed. What's next?"

He thought he heard her chuckle again but her voice was just as neutral as ever. "Clear your mind of everything. Now is not the time for plans, for revenge, for dirty sexual thoughts about certain teammates."

"Hey, I can't help it if Beast Boy looks good in his uniform."

She refused to laugh at that. Not only was it not funny, it was more than mildly disturbing. "Your mind is quiet. Like the ocean outside your window when you first wake."

He could picture that easily; the sun setting the glassy blue waters ablaze as it rose. Without him realizing it, the tension slipped out of his shoulders and his back. The embarrassment of losing slipped away as well, leaving his mind a cool, blank slate. Her voice continued, soothing in its detachment.

"Think of the place where you feel safest. The one place you would go if the world were falling apart. A place of solitude. A place of comfort."

The image formed slowly in his head—like every other thought that ran through his brain, this one had to be perfect. Nothing could be out of place. Not one stone. Not one shadow. His mind drew in the dark lines, the hard edges, refusing to miss a single detail. He could almost begin to feel the cool, dank air on his skin and smell the sharp, pungent scent of a subterranean space. There had always been an odd kind of irony to it; a bird who nested not in the trees but miles beneath the earth, caged on all sides by solid rock. And the underground hideout was a far cry from the mythical Sherwood Forest of his namesake.

"Can you see it clearly?" came Raven's voice, sounding very near, almost as if she were inside his mind.

He nodded. "Yes."

"Then open your eyes."

Following her quiet command, Robin's eyelids blinked open and he saw that he was no longer sitting on the beach. The sand beneath him had been replaced with flat, smooth stone. To his right, where there had been the gently lapping ocean, there was now an enormous, black hole that stretched down into the earth for miles. To his left, Titans' Tower had been replaced with a huge wall of screens, buttons, and other technological devices. Overhead the blue sky had been painted over with darkness. Though he couldn't see the ceiling, he could feel its oppressive weight bearing down on him. Was it the ceiling? Or the man who the ceiling belonged to?

"This is your 'happy place'?"

Robin turned to see Raven leaning against a stalagmite and staring down into the pit of never-ending darkness. Her eyes shifted to meet his.

"And I'm the weird one?"

"Well, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by bringing out the whip cream and the bikini models," he replied, pushing himself up to his feet. His eyes narrowed on her. It was definitely Raven standing there in the middle of his recreation of the Bat-Cave. There was the familiar blue cape, the black uniform, the permanent blank expression. And yet something . . . .

"You look . . . . different," he finally settled on, tilting his head and trying to figure out what it was that seemed out of place.

Raven lifted her shoulders slightly. "This is how your mind perceives me. It's different than what your eyes see."

"Oh." He frowned and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "What is it that's different? This is really going to bother me."

Sighing, she decided that more embarrassment probably wouldn't scar him for life. She placed her hands beneath her breasts, several sizes larger than they were in the waking world. "What's the matter, Robin? Mine not big enough for you?"

Robin's face flushed and he gave a small cough, turning his eyes away. "So . . . this is my mind, huh? We're in my mind." An idea came to him suddenly and he glanced back at Raven. She noticed the devilish smile and dropped her eyes down. Her heavy cloak and uniform had been replaced with a far more revealing . . . . she wasn't sure _what_ to call it. The band-aid size top and matching bottom could hardly be considered an outfit. Her eyes became thin slits. On the front of the top, directly in the center, was a large red R. She looked up and his grin widened.

"Is that better?" he asked, innocently. Raven glared at him for a long moment, letting him imagine all the various tortures she was conceiving. Then she took hold of the top and tore downwards.

His eyes widened.

And then went back to normal when he saw that "underneath" the outfit he had imagined up for her, was her standard blue cloak, black uniform.

"How did you do that?" he wanted to know, trying not to sound too disappointed. And he was surprised at just how much he was disappointed. _You're such a perverted little bastard, Robin_, he thought to himself, slightly ashamed at the way his mind, even for a moment, had objectified a teammate. Then he snuck a glance at her legs. Well, at least he had good taste.

Raven flicked her hands down the front of her cloak as if she were brushing off dirt and shook a finger at him. "Now, Robin. You don't want to know all my secrets, do you?"

Again Robin found himself surprised by his thoughts. And very thankful that they just didn't appear out of the air. They _were_ in his mind after all.

"I wouldn't mind knowing _something _about you." No one ever wanted to hear the whole truth. Just bits and pieces.

A bit surprised, Raven looked at him carefully, unable to discern if he was joking or not. His face was carefully blank, but there had been a hint of something underlying his tone. Hurt? She knew that compared to the others, she had revealed very little about herself. Starfire was like an open book; you could ask her anything and she would response with an honest and usually long answer. Beast Boy's past was no secret and neither was Cyborg's. And even Robin had given up bits of his own history; an early life in the circus, time spent with the mysterious Batman. But aside from knowing where she was from and that her powers were driven by her emotions, the other Titans knew very little about her. She scowled briefly. Oh yes. And that she was going to end life as they all knew it. They were all certainly aware of that, weren't they?

"I only have four toes on my left foot."

Robin gave a start. Had he heard her correctly? "Come again?"

"Toes. I only have four of them. On my left foot. Now you know something about me."

His gaze dropped and his lips pursued. For some undeniably odd, unknown reason, the thought of her toes was outrageously sexy to him. And he was quite obviously going insane. You'd think there would be banners or something.

"Can I see?" he asked.

She shot him a look that clearly said 'no.' "Do you think we could get back to the business at hand?"

"Oh." He glanced around the Bat-Cave as if seeing it for the first time. "Right. So where do we go now?"

"I don't know. It's your mind."

"Okay, then." His eyes drifted through the room, over the computer monitors and the enormous titanium vault that held the bat-suit and that had once held his own costumes. Just to the right of the vault were stone stairs that trailed upwards, disappearing into darkness. He started towards them.

"So this is the infamous Bat-Cave you've told us nothing about."

"Yep. This is it."

"Cheery. Who was the interior decorator?"

"Why? Interested in using him?"

"Maybe."

"Well, I wasn't here when it was originally built but I believe the designer's name was God."

The stairs seemed to climb on forever, going much further than the actual stairs that connected the Bat-Cave and Wayne Manor. Briefly he wondered if he was supposed to conjure up a door or something; no sooner had the thought entered his head when they came to a plain, wooden door. He frowned at it. It was not the door that led out of the Bat-Cave and he had a sinking suspicion that when he opened it, they would not be in the Manor. Behind him came the rustling of Raven's cloak.

"Are you going to open it or what?"

Robin turned to look over his shoulder. "I'm not sure what's behind it."

Raven raised one eyebrow at him. "Afraid? Don't worry," she said, tapping his shoulder awkwardly. "I'll protect you."

She had meant it as a joke, but instead of laughing, he reached up and caught her hand in his, shifting his grip until their fingers interlaced. "I'll hold you to that," he said, turning back towards the door.

Slightly shocked, she stared down at their joined hands. Such a simple gesture and one she was unaccustomed to. Unaccustomed but not unfamiliar. She could still clearly remember holding her mother's hand, her tiny fingers completely engulfed by Arella's long, thin ones. But holding Robin's hand felt very different. His skin was warm and rough whereas her mother's touch had been cool and smooth. Raven could feel tiny rivers running up the length of her arm, as if something were shooting electricity into her palm. Curious. She lifted her eyes to his back and wondered what was in his mind that could unnerve him so.

He started to twist the door handle, and then stopped when her free hand gripped his forearm.

"This is your mind Robin. Nothing can hurt you here. You are lord and master."

His eyes remained on the spot where her fingers clutched his arm for a long moment, before he shifted them to meet hers. The devilish smile was back in place.

"Lord and master, huh? Does that me you'll call me Lord Robin from now on?"

Shaking her head, Raven released his arm. "Why do I bother? I should just stick a butter knife in an electrical outlet and be done with it."

Robin chuckled and squeezed the hand still in his grip. "Let's see where this baby goes," he said, pushing the door open wide.

The sheer volume of noise nearly bowled him over. There were people everywhere; hundreds, thousands, _millions_ of them, milling about, every one of them talking animatedly. He couldn't make out any of the conversations. They all blended together into one cacophonous symphony. Robin clapped his hands over his ears.

Beside him Raven waved one hand, bringing a dome of dark energy over them. He dropped his hands and was relieved at the silence that greeted him.

"Who the hell are those people?" he asked, watching them through the black window.

"Those are your thoughts. Most people manifest their thoughts as people. Though I have a feeling Beast Boy probably sees them as animals."

"You read Beast Boy's thoughts too?"

"No," she answered. "I can't read other people's thoughts."

He looked at her in surprise. "How come you can read mine then?"

"I'll show you, but first," she jerked a thumb towards the lumbering mass of thoughts standing just inches away. "We need to get rid of all of them."

One of Robin's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean by, 'get rid of?'"

"Well I certainly don't plan on slaughtering and / or devouring them, so rest easy. I was going to suggest manifesting them as something a bit quieter? Like those ugly green file cabinets you're so fond of?"

Robin looked offended. "My file cabinets are not ugly." He stared out at the mass of people and thoughtfully rubbed his chin. Now that the noise level had been reduced he found that he could distinguish a few of them. There were a number of Slade-clones standing around, managing to look both mocking and sinister. Not too far away from where Robin and Raven stood were a group of men that looked suspiciously like members of G.I. Joe, standing around a broad planning table, complete with little miniature soldiers. In the background a giant Cinderblock was wrestling with an equally large Plasmus, in a recreation of King Kong versus Godzilla. His eyes drifted over the sea of faces, searching for two in particular. But though he saw a number of faces from his past, brightly colored circus folk, they were curiously absent.

"That'd be a lot of file cabinets," he mused aloud. "Maybe something a bit more technologically savvy."

Outside of the dome the crowds of people instantly disappeared. Curling her fingers into a fist, Raven lowered her shield, pulling the dark energy back into her. She took in the emptiness of the space with no small amount of surprise; it had taken her far longer to gain such control over her thoughts. Of course, he didn't have his emotions to contend with as well. If trying to get one Raven to do something was difficult, trying to get thirty or so Ravens to _agree_ on anything was like trying to convince the Justice League to stop wearing their underwear outside of their clothes.

Robin bent over and picked something up off the ground; she took a step forward to peek over his shoulder.

"An iPod?"

He grinned. "Yeah, and in my favorite colors too. Neat huh?" he said, tucking the small red and yellow box into his utility belt. "Ok. Mission accomplished. What's next?"

She stared at him for a long moment, and then shook her head. "Can you feel that?" she asked, raising one hand as if she were checking for wind.

He mimicked the action. There was a slight tugging sensation, as if something were trying to push him forward. "What is that?"

Raven held her arm out as if to say, _after you_. They started to walk, a comfortable silence falling between them. Perhaps that was Robin's favorite thing about Raven. The way she never felt the need to fill up the quiet with meaningless talk. She was not afraid of silence. In that way, she reminded him a lot of Batman and nights when they would prowl the rooftops of Gotham City, never saying a single word. That's not to say he didn't enjoy conversation with his other teammates; speaking with Starfire always managed to involve a curious mixture of information, wisdom, and curiosity. Sometimes he wondered if he was teaching her or if she was teaching him. Beast Boy. Beast Boy was annoying, true, but only because of he was younger than the other Titans. And though Robin would never _ever_ admit it out loud, he often times needed the green changeling's odd attempts at humor in order to dispel his own moodiness. Cyborg? That was easy. The metal-man could easily be his brother. Conversations with him were always revealing, always rewarding. But sometimes, Robin just didn't want to talk. And only Raven seemed to understand that.

"It's really empty in here." He shot Raven a bland look. "Don't say anything."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

After a few minutes of wandering, they came to another door, this one much fancier than the last. It was made of a dark wood and had strange symbols carved in the frame. The door was open and behind it was purple cloud that spiraled like a tornado. Robin stepped closer; the tugging sensation increased. He reached out with one hand, intrigued to find something so unusual in his mind.

Raven caught his arm before he could push it into the mist. "We don't use this door. Ever."

He pulled his hand back. "Where does it go?"

She tapped the side of her head. "This door leads to my mind."

Robin looked at her, then at the door, then back at her. "I'm confused. You put a door in my head? Don't you need a license for that kind of thing? There are zoning laws, you know."

Sighing, Raven shook her head and resisted the urge to smack him across the back of his skull. Boys. "The mind is like a small child. It reaches out to everything and tries to grab hold. Pictures, information, memories, anything that it comes across. When I entered into your head, our minds came in contact and, for lack of a better description, grabbed hold of each other. This door is a manifestation of the link between our minds. This is how I've been reading your thoughts. Your thoughts have been passing along the link and . . . well, let's just say my mind is not a safe place for your thoughts to be."

"So how do I stop them from going through?"

She smiled slightly. "Close the door."

Seemed simple enough. Robin took hold of the edge of the door and started to swing it shut. And then had a sudden thought.

"If I close it, will that sever our bond?"

Raven shook her head again. "No. For better or worse, we will have this link for the rest of our lives. And yes," she said, seeing his next question scrawled across his face. "Going through this door will put you in my mind, but I don't suggest doing that. Ever." Her eyes became serious and dark with something he couldn't quite place. "My mind is not a safe place. There are things there that will try and harm you."

Robin let out a deep breath and nodded. He could respect that. Even if he was sorely tempted not to.

He pushed the door shut.

The blaring horn of the Tower's alarm system pulled them both back to reality.

000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANTS THEATER PRESENTS : "Memories of a Raven."

Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zint—

Starfire: Raven? Forgive my intrusion, but have you seen Robin?

Raven: No.

Starfire: Oh. Perhaps then you have seen Cyborg?

Raven: No.

Starfire: Beast Boy?

Raven: My eyes are closed Starfire. I haven't _seen_ anyone.

Starfire: Oh. They must be doing the "hanging out." Perhaps we should do the "hanging out." We never have before and conceivably it could be fun. We might journey to the mall of shopping or perform braiding maneuvers on each others hair.

Raven: (gritting teeth and spitting fire)

Starfire: I know! We can perform the exchange of the "secrets." You may share first.

Raven: Starfire.

Starfire: Yes, friend?

Raven: I hate you.

Starfire: That is not a secret.


	4. Sacrifice One For The Many

_Reality is a strange concept. What we see is tempered by what we perceive; how then are we to know what is real and what is imagined?_

As if someone had reached out and shoved him, Robin felt himself plunge backwards into empty space. Abruptly the world he had created was gone; the ornate door, the swirling purple mist, Raven. He flung his arms out, searching for some handhold, anything to slow his descent. But there was only darkness rushing by on all sides.

Then he felt something close over his shoulder and experienced the very uncomfortable sensation of opening eyes that he had thought were already open wide. The darkness around him was replaced by blue sky and hard earth; silence by the screeching of the Tower's alarm. His vision swam as the rush out of his mind left him violently disoriented. One minute he had been crashing downwards and the next had him struggling to stand up. It felt as if he was completely out of alignment and when he tried to leap to his feet, he only succeeded in pitching forward. The grip on his shoulder tightened and kept him from falling onto his face.

"Robin."

The single word drew his eyes up. Raven was there, her face close, her eyes dark and deep.

"Focus," she said, straining slightly to keep him upright.

It was a command Robin was well accustomed to hearing. And obeying. He stopped trying to move and instead concentrated on her solemn face. His mind replaced it with another, half hidden by a fierce some mask. But the blue eyes that stared out were flat and calculating. _You're much too reckless, Robin. Too many unnecessary risks. You need to focus. Sloppy. You're no good to me or anyone else if you're dead._ The face changed again, slightly blurred this time; a middle-aged man with thick black hair and a cocky grin. There was a gleam of adventure in two bright pools of green. _Gotta focus, Jason._ _Gotta give the crowd a good show. Show 'em what they're missin' by being in the stands instead of in the air._

The world slowly shifted back into place and Raven was there again, waiting patiently. She could see by the way his body straightened that he had regained his balance and so she released her hold. A few stray strands of his dark hair had fallen over his forehead and for some reason she found herself wanting to brush them back. Her hand had lifted from his shoulder to hover in front of his eyebrows before she pulled it back, frowning.

"Usually it's better to ease out of meditation," she informed him, hiding the concern she had felt underneath her usual monotone and tucking her arms inside the folds of cloak before she did something weird, like stroke his back. When had she become such a mother hen? She nearly laughed. She, who had barely had a mother, with motherly instincts? Doubtful.

Robin felt her hand leave his shoulder and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I can see now why you're so pissed when someone interrupts you," he said.

Any response she might have made was cut off by the arrival of the others. Cyborg had his eyes on his left arm and was scanning the information from the incoming call. A few feet away Starfire hung in the air, alternating between clenching and unclenching her fists. Raven had noticed it was a habit that the young alien did whenever there was the prospect of a physical confrontation. At first she had assumed it was from some kind of anxiety; Starfire often grew anxious whenever there was a hint of an argument brewing between her friends so Raven had figured that the girl had trouble with conflict. But she had since come to a different conclusion. While the Tamarean princess did not like for there to be emotional discord between her teammates, she had absolute no problems with physical altercations. Starfire, it seemed, _loved_ to fight. In fact, Raven thought as she watched her friend flex her fingers, she was a bit _too_ gleefully about the prospect of battle. Sometimes it freaked Raven out. Slightly.

Beast Boy slid up next to Robin and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Dude, you totally cost me ten bucks."

Robin ran a hand through his hair and didn't answer. Instead he turned to Cyborg. "What have we got?"

The machine man shook his head and lifted his broad shoulders. "Don't know. The message just says there's a disturbance."

Didn't _that_ sound familiar? Scowling, Robin punched his fist into his palm, comforted by the heavy slap it made. "Slade," he said flatly, turning his head slightly to glance at Raven. But she had already pulled her cowl up, hiding her face and her thoughts from him.

Cyborg lifted his gaze and the red, cybernetic eye flashed as it focused in on his friend's face. "Could be," he agreed, cautiously, knowing just the mention of the villain could scatter their leader's mind. "He's done it to us before. But then again, might be something else entirely."

Three pairs of eyes met and identical thoughts passed between them. At the same time, they all turned toward Raven. It might have been humorous if their thoughts hadn't centered on world destruction. She shook her head.

"It isn't Trigon," she said, in answer to their unspoken question.

Cyborg raised one eyebrow. "You sure?" he asked, more for form than out of any skepticism of her.

Wordlessly she held out her arms. The skin was smooth and pale. There was no sign of the violent markings that had appeared twice before.

"I'll know when he's here." She dropped her arms to her sides and held each of their gazes, lingering a moment longer on Robin. "And so will you."

Robin returned her steady stare, refusing to fall victim to the fear she was trying to instill in him. He knew she was hiding something from all of them, something very important, just as he knew she felt there was nothing they could do against the power of her demon father. But the day Robin admitted defeat would be the day they buried his body under six feet of fresh earth.

"Where is the disturbance?" he asked.

Cyborg checked his arm again. "The east quarry."

"Titans, go!"

000000000000000000000000000

The east quarry was an enormous pit that cut into the side of the mountains located just outside the city. During the weekday men and women used clunky machines and human muscle to wrestle the rock free from the earth. At the moment though, on a Saturday afternoon, it was eerily empty, with only the steel skeletons taking up space. Behind his mask, Robin narrowed his eyes and killed the engine of his bike. The guttural roar cut off abruptly, leaving still silence in its wake. He was the first to arrive. He was always the first. The others were never far behind but he always made sure to get wherever they were going ahead of them. He needed to. To scout, to think, to plan.

The silence lasted all of three minutes, shattered by the arrival of the ravenous growl of the T-car. Beast Boy dropped out of the sky, smoothly transforming from a hawk back into his human form just as Raven and Cyborg stepped out of the car. A moment later Starfire touched down, her feet lightly brushing the ground.

They were all assembled.

Scratching along his jaw, Beast Boy glanced around with an expression of disbelief. "What evil villain attacks a rock quarry? It's like robbing the post office."

Raven glanced up while in the act of brushing out her cloak. "Okay, I didn't get that one."

Beast Boy lifted his slim shoulders and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, me neither."

Rolling her eyes, Raven slammed the car door shut. "Why do I always have to ride in the T-car? I can fly. I _like_ to fly."

On the other side of the tricked out vehicle, Cyborg mirrored her action. Turning his head, he began a thorough studied of the quarry, his sensors scanning. "Because someone has to be ready to levitate the T-car if it goes off a cliff or something."

"Like that time you tried to do a donut in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven and almost went through the guard rail into the harbor?"

"Exactly. Besides, what does flying have that the T-car doesn't?"

"Silence."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his human eye and saw that she was staring at the car as if it were an evil slug creature as opposed to a very nicely designed automobile. "Not a Jock Jams fan?"

"Not really a fan of anything that has to do with jocks."

"Right. So you were yelling at the TV during the Yankees game because it was uninteresting and not because you wanted them to win?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she met his gaze over the top of the car. "I was merely protesting the crime of paying individuals disgusting amounts of money in exchange for exceptional performances, which they far more often than not, fail to deliver."

"Jeter fly out again?"

"The man is physically incapable of not sucking."

Cyborg chuckled lightly but sobered up when he turned towards Robin. The team leader had his all-business expression on his face, which wasn't really all that different from his other facial expressions. "My scanners aren't picking up anything, Robin. Looks like the place is clean."

"Perhaps it was merely a false alarm?" Starfire offered, settling more firmly on the ground.

Robin shook his head, his lips twisting downwards. "No. There's someone here. I can feel it. Beast Boy, Cyborg, check out the right side. Starfire, the left. Raven and I will investigate the mines. Stay sharp."

They all gave uniform nods and separated in the manner dictated to them. Not too far away, hidden by a heap of grey rubble, a lone figure hunched, his eyes watching their movements. A grim smile touched his lips, hidden by red cloth, as he saw them divide themselves up. This was going to be much easier than he had originally thought. He fingered the small black box in his hand, debating with himself as to whether or not it was truly necessary. As a rule, he disliked overkill. He was precise and methodical and when you were both of those things, one bullet would do the trick. Anything else would be just for show.

His gaze settled on the dark robed girl. At the exact same moment, she stopped walking and turned her head, seemingly staring at the very spot he was kneeling it. Though he knew it was impossible for her to see him, he still felt a sliver of uneasiness. That decided it for him. His thumb pressed down on a thin button, the click barely audible.

Better safe than sorry.

00000000000000000000

The towering piles of earth and stone were quiet and they littered the floor of the quarry like small mountains. With her feet hovering a foot off the ground, Starfire glided in-between them, searching for any signs of trouble. She was not afraid; on the contrary, she very much looked forward to battle. Not because, as Raven sometimes worried, she was some kind of a homicidal maniac, but because with battle there was simplicity. There was right and there was wrong. Those who did wrong were to be punished. Those who did right were to do the punishing. A great deal about her new home was strange and many things were far different from the way things were on Tameran. Though things were becoming more familiar over time, very often she felt separate and out of place. Very much like the thing she was.

An alien on a foreign planet.

She was not afraid of battle, but that did not mean she was fearless. There were a number of things that Starfire could admit to fearing; glortnigs, snickbats, rats, Listerine, and garden gnomes to name a few. But more than anything else, she feared for the safety of her teammates. She feared that they would one day need her assistance and she would fail them. Her strength, her starbolts, her ability to fly would mean nothing if she was unable to come to their aid. She thought of Raven then and her curt confession that seemed to spell doom for the future. Raven expected her to fail. Raven expected them all to fail.

Starfire clenched her hands and green energy pulsed.

She would _not_ fail.

The clang of metal against metal had her turning her head, just in time to see a heavy steel bin flying directly towards her. She studied it disdainfully for a moment, and then pulled her arm back and lunged forward, slamming her fist into the solid object. It exploded, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris, obscuring her vision. When it finally cleared, she saw that the emptiness had been replaced by an unwelcome familiar sight. Thirty or so blade and orange robots.

Here was simplicity.

Slade-bots were programmed for aggression and they wasted no time attacking. Steel fists rained down from all directions, a storm of potential pain. But she dodged each one before launching a strike of her own. The single starbolt passed through seven bots, leaving a wide path of destruction in its wake.

There was a sharp whistling and she looked up to see a bot descending rapidly through the air towards her. Reaching up she grabbed hold of its ankles and swung the machine down and out, slamming it into half a dozen others and then letting go. Metal crashed into metal, crushing and frying circuitry.

Hands grabbed onto her shoulders, squeezing painfully. She reached back and grasped the two arms, tossing the bot over her head. A fist flew in out of nowhere, in a straight path for the back of her head. At the last second she turned and caught it in her own hand. Closing her fingers she twisted her wrist and wrenched off the bot's arm, then used it as a bat to smash it across the face. As it fell there was a new bot behind it, ready to take its place. It crushed its arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Starfire struggled briefly, feeling pain as it began to tighten its grip. Then she looked it dead in the face. Two green streams shot out from her eyes, blowing it backwards. Her hand flew out, grabbing hold of its neck. In the robots black mask she saw the man who had been hunting them for so long. The man who had tried to break Robin. The man who was tormenting Raven. Anger surged through her and she took hold of its shoulder.

"Herruuhh," she snarled, tearing the robot apart, imagining it was the villain who threatened to destroy those that she cared about.

But for every Slade-bot that fell there were two more to take its place. They crowded in on her, undeterred by her fists of rage and her bolts of righteous fury. Like a cloud of locust they swarmed over her, burying her beneath their metal bodies.

00000000000000000000000

The machines were all cold. Not surprising considering they hadn't been used since the afternoon before. Cyborg ducked his head into the cab of one of the monstrous drills, searching for clues while half-listening to Beast Boy's steady stream of complaints.

"Dude, why can't these villains ever attack any place _fun_? Like an arcade or an amusement park. Instead of some nasty old hole in the ground. Do you know how hard it is to get dirt out of this uniform?"

"No," was Cyborg's muffled response. "And neither do you. You never do your laundry."

"Oh, right." Beast Boy paused. "Hey, who does do our laundry?"

"Laundry elves. Anyway, do you really want to be fighting on a rollercoaster or a Ferris wheel? That stuff never works out well."

Staring at the blue and white plates on his friend's back, Beast Boy's mind took him backwards in time. To an amusement park. To a Ferris wheel. To two blue eyes, dark with a sorrow he couldn't understand at the time. But he understood it now. There was a pinching just under his heart and he lifted a hand to rub at his chest. His fingers brushed the edge of the plastic clip he kept on a chain.

"Yeah," he heard himself agree. "It never works out well."

Shaking his head, Cyborg pulled himself out of the cab and slapped a hand on the roof of the machine. "There's nothing here." He turned towards the east side of the quarry. "I wonder if Star's found anything."

As if in response to his question there was an explosion and an enormous tunnel of green energy shot up into the air. The two boys stared at it and then looked at each other.

"Looks like she found trouble," Cyborg said, curling his hands into fists and preparing to take off running. But Beast Boy grabbed hold of his arm, stopping him.

"Uh, dude? I think we have our own problem."

A small army of Slade-bots surrounded them and slowly began to close in. The two Titans set their backs against each other. Cyborg lifted his arm and shifted it into his sonic cannon, smiling at the satisfying click the parts made as they snapped into place.

"Don't worry," he said, holding the cannon out and sighting along the barrel. "I got the solution."

0000000000000000000

Deep inside the earth it was dark and cool, just the way Raven liked it. Though she couldn't say she cared much for the idea of having four million tons of rock hovering over her head. It was like driving a car that leaked gasoline. It _probably_ wouldn't explode but with her luck, she'd get stuck in traffic and some asshole would throw a cigarette butt out his window. Robin didn't seem bothered by it at all. But then again, he'd spent a good portion of his life in a very similar environment.

Raven followed behind him, glaring at the back of her leader's head. She knew why he had paired them together. It was painfully obvious that he was trying to protect her. As if somehow he could throw himself in front of every bad thing that happened and it would all just bounce off his bullet-proof body. When in all likelihood, if one of Trigon's minions didn't get him then Trigon himself would have the boy for breakfast. A couple bird-a-rangs and some smoke bombs weren't going to be at all helpful against an _immortal demon_. That is, if he even managed to survive the end of the world, which wasn't very likely. But that need of his would prevent him from admitting that, from giving up. And while she often admired it, at the moment it was frustrating as all hell.

She wanted to save them. More than anything in the world, she wanted to save them from her destiny. And the more they fought against it, the more she realized how futile a wish that was.

"Something on your mind, Raven?"

Robin's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she saw that he was kneeling down, rubbing soil through his gloved fingers. She stepped closer, her cloak rustling.

"I don't need to be coddled, Robin." He didn't answer. "I don't need you to protect me. I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself."

He glanced over his shoulder at her and stood up. "Maybe I need you to protect me."

"That sounds about right."

They both swirled at the sound of the new voice. There was darkness all around, hiding the newcomer. Then there was a loud thunk and a bright light that chased away the blackness. Raven lifted an arm up in front of her face while Robin turned his head. The light prevented them from seeing anything.

"Who are you?" Robin called, squinting his eyes, and trying to see past the blinding white.

There was no answer. Only the sound of shuffling and scraping, like dozens of feet marching over gravel. Raven spun around, turning her back to the light, and saw the rows of Slade-bots advancing on them. One row, two rows, five rows . . . her eyes continued forward until she could not see any further. But what she saw did not seem to have an end.

"Robin," she said quietly.

He turned as well, automatically reaching to the back of his utility belt for his staff. His masked eyes traveled over the robots in the same manner Raven's had, his lips shifting slightly as he silently counted. More than one hundred against two? Unbeatable odds. His thumb clicked one of three buttons on the side of the staff.

It grew to three feet.

"Sometimes I really hate it when I'm right," he said.

As they had previously, the two Titans shot forward at the same time, turning their abilities on a common foe as opposed to each other. Robin's staff flashed out and up, cutting through metal as if it were a broadsword. He blocked a strike with his forearm, feeling the sharp pain of steel hitting bone. Then he punched his fist through the robot's head. It convulsed and slid to the ground where it continued to twitch. But to Robin, it was already forgotten as he moved onto the next. He kicked out with his right leg, slamming his foot into two bots with a roundhouse and into two more when he followed with a roundhouse with his left leg. His arm flung out, in a powerful backhand that stunned another bot, just before he drove his staff through its chest. The titanium cylinder danced between his fingers as he swirled it around him, sliding his hands further down the bo until he had just the very end of it. He planted his feet and spun in a tight circle, letting the staff do all of the dirty work.

Raven held out both arms, fingers spread wide, and black energy coursed out, passing violently through half a dozen bots like lightning. She dropped her hands towards the ground and gritted her teeth.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Her magic dug down into the earth and, throwing her arms up, she tore an enormous hunk of rock out of the ground and sent it spiraling towards a crowd of Slade-bots. It landed with a satisfying "crunch." She took a moment to check on Robin and as her head turned, she caught a flash of red heading further into the mines. There was only a second to make a decision, but she didn't even need that long. Robin could take care of himself.

"They're all yours!" she called out as she took off in pursuit of their assailant.

Out of the corner of his mask Robin saw her disappear into darkness. He flipped backwards, dodging a fist, his foot connecting with a bot's chin. Landing neatly on the balls of his feet, he snapped his staff down and surveyed the number of bots left. Still more than were reasonable.

"Gee, thanks Raven."

0000000000000000000000000

Running through darkness always feels strange, even when one is in an intensely familiar environment. And when that environment is not familiar, then running blind is not only strange, but dangerous.

Raven could hear the assailant running up ahead but couldn't tell if he was ten feet away or one hundred. If she could just get a glimpse of him, she could send out her magic. Trip him, pin him, slow him down at least. But as it was, she wouldn't be able to see the wall until she smashed face first into it.

She knew he was deliberately leading her somewhere. Somewhere away from her teammates, somewhere that he alone would have the advantage. That didn't bother her. She was used to not having the upper hand.

Suddenly the tunnel exited into a large room with lights hanging from iron poles pitched into the earth. They formed a complete circle and gave off enough illumination that Raven could see quite clearly. She glanced around as she slowly moved forward, but saw no one. Pausing, she tilted her head and listened, waiting for something to give him away. Breathing. Moving. Anything.

Click.

Raven turned halfway and found herself almost staring directly down the barrel of a very large gun. Her eyes shifted to the man that held it.

He was not anyone she had seen before and yet something about him was deeply familiar. His suit was a deep red and it covered every inch of his six foot plus frame except for the top of his head, leaving tousled brown locks carelessly exposed. There were blue armored plates on his shoulders, thighs, and forearms that did not look to be ornamental. A large black skull design took up most of the left side of his chest.

She eyed the gun again, pushing back her cowl and lifting one eyebrow. "Is that all you brought? Because I assure you, it's going to take a lot more than that to kill me."

The gun didn't waver. "I doubt it." His voice was hollow and sounded mechanical, as if he were speaking through some kind of device. Or perhaps he wasn't entirely human. Her eyes narrowed and his head shifted to one side, mockingly. "After all," he continued, "how many lives will I be saving with just one bullet? Isn't that what you do Raven? Save lives?"

There was something _very_ familiar about him.

Seconds ticked by in silence. He could see her considering what he said and he expected it wouldn't be much longer before her hero's conscience made her give in. Then he would do his job and collect his fee. And a handsome fee it would be.

But when her gaze returned to his, there was no of the noble despair that he had assumed he would see. Instead the magnificent violet pools were flat and emotionless. The corners of her lips turned up and she . . . . she laughed. She laughed at him. And it was not a cheerful sound.

"Is that what whoever sent you here told you?" she asked, still smiling a mirthless smile. "That killing me would end it? You're a fool if you believe that. Just like . . . ."

She could feel his emotions shift inside of him, even though his body remained rigid and the gun steady. But she could feel his sudden doubt, confusion, and anger. Anger at being laughed at. Familiar. Suddenly she knew exactly who she was looking at.

". . . just like your brother," she finished and had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes widen. "Did Slade send you to kill me? Tiring of my father's control already? That's a dangerous game to play."

He didn't respond but she could tell by the way his jaw clenched that there was some truth to what she said. Before she could goad him any further though, something flashed through the air, striking the gun with a sharp "clang" and sending it spinning out of the assailant's hand.

"Raven!"

At the sound of Robin's voice, Raven turned her head to see her leader coming racing into the room. And when she turned back, the assailant was gone. Just as she knew he would be. She cursed herself for being distracted and as a result, when she spun to face Robin again, her face was not its usual mirror of calm.

"Dammit Robin! I told you I can take care of myself!"

Robin was surprised at her abrupt outburst, but recovered quickly enough. "He had a gun to your head!"

She snapped her cowl up. "I know! I was looking right at it!"

"So I suppose I was just supposed to let him pull the trigger and blow your head off? Is that right?"

"You're supposed to trust me to be able to handle myself." Her eyes were level on his and her voice was settling back into its icy monotone. "Like I trust you to handle yourself."

He opened his mouth to reply but closed it when the other three Titans burst in. Starfire flew over to where Robin and Raven were standing and unconsciously placed herself in between them.

"Friends! You are unharmed! How fortunate. Did the Slade-bots not attack you?" she asked, turning to one and then the other.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest. "Robin took care of them. Didn't you Robin?" Her voice betrayed nothing yet the other Titans all felt the tension levels in the room shoot up. They all turned towards Robin, who had also folded his arms over his chest.

He said nothing.

The tension level skyrocketed.

Beginning to feel incredibly uncomfortable, and not at all sure why, Starfire forced a bright smile onto her face and spread her arms out wide.

"We are victorious, friends! Should we not celebrate with the waffles and the mustard?"

Cyborg twisted his arm to check the time. "It is pretty close to dinnertime. And we did kick a lot of robotic booty."

Beast Boy made a face. "Count me in on the waffles but I'll pass on the mustard."

Starfire's smile relaxed slightly. "Oh, but you are most unaware of what you are missing!"

"No, I'm pretty aware. And pretty happy I'm not drinking it."

"All right. There shall be more for me then." The smile tightened again as it was turned on Robin, who continued to stare at the ground. "Robin?" Starfire asked, flinching slightly when he lifted his head. He continued to say nothing and she began to wonder if she had somehow angered him. She was on the verge on apologizing when he gave a terse nod.

"Okay," he said. "We could all use something to eat."

When he said "all", he shot a glance over at Raven who was shaking her head before he had finished the sentence.

"You guys go on ahead without me. I'll see you back at the tower."

Before anyone could protest, she flipped her cloak in front of her and melded into the shadows.

0000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITAN THEATERS PRESENTS – "Why Do I Have to Ride in the T-Car? - Take II."

Raven: "Why do I always have to ride in the T-car? I can fly. I _like_ to fly."

Cyborg: "Because someone has to be ready to levitate the T-car if it goes off a cliff or something."

Raven: "Like that time you tried to do a donut in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven and almost went through the guard rail into the harbor?"

Cyborg: "Exactly. Besides, what does flying have that the T-car doesn't?"

Raven: "Silence."

Cyborg: "Not a Jock Jams fan?"

Raven: "Not really a fan of anything that has to do with jocks. Or jam for that matter."

Cyborg: "Not even strawberry jam?"

Raven: "Okay, maybe strawberry jam. But only on crumpets. And scones. Not toast. Toast gets too soggy."

Robin: "Uh, do you guys think you could put this incredibly important conversation on hold for later so we can catch some bad guys now?"

Raven: "That depends. Why do I always have to ride in the T-car?"

Robin: "Because you lost the staring contest with Beast Boy, remember?"

Raven: "It wasn't fair. Who in the world can stare at Beast Boy for more than five minutes without going blind?"

Beast Boy: "Hey! I resemble that! I mean . . . wait . . ."

Raven: "I rest my case."


	5. A Date With Aqualad

Author's Note

Okay, some important footnotes here. I am officially replacing Mas Y Menos with Kid Flash because 1) I like Kid Flash better 2) Mas Y Menos are totally a dumb rip off of Kid Flash and 3) My Spanish continues to linger slightly above terrible (and will continue to do so until I die. at which point I will probably become amazingly fluent.) So, Wally is Kid Flash. For all of you who don't know who the hell Kid Flash is, he's just the teen version of the Flash; the guy in tights who moves super fast. Anyone ever see the old movie the Flash? Ah . . . . the memories. It might be the worst movie ever made.

000000000000000000000000

Despite the fact that the other Titans had gone off for a victory dinner and she had the entire tower to herself, Raven chose to meditate down by the water's edge. Her emotions were out of balance; not dangerously so, but enough to irritate her. And Azar knew she was already irritated enough by Robin's recent behavior. On top of that, she was frustrated by the circumstances surrounding her and the lack of information she kept finding herself with. She _still_ hadn't figured out how or why Slade was connected with her father and _now_ she had a new unknown to deal with. How did the red suited man who shared familial blood with Slade tie into things? She had to admit it was difficult to think of Slade as having family. She supposed she just always assumed he had hatched from some evil egg somewhere. Not the case, apparently. He had a brother, which meant he must have had parents at some point.

The sea was calm and quiet; tiny waves lapped over each other. Near the horizon the sun was slowly sinking, causing the water to burn red and orange while the sky was beginning to fade into its nighttime hue of bluish-black. One could just begin to see the stars glowing faintly. The wind whistled softly over the island, ruffling Raven's cape as she made her way down to the beach.

_The perfect spot, the perfect time for some meditation_, she thought as she settled down into the lotus position. Closing her eyes she levitated three feet off the ground and centered herself, feeling the dark energy inside of her gather in the center of her chest. Almost immediately the world fell into the background; she could hear the breeze rustling over the rocks and the sea as it splashed against the shore but the sounds were very far away, as if she were listening through a seashell. A soothing calm washed over her that was like a cool cloth on a feverish forehead. The jagged edges of emotions began to smooth themselves out and the pressure of having to repress them slowly faded. There, alone with only her thoughts for company, she felt at peace; as content as she could hope to be. In the back of her mind was a small pang of regret that contentment could only come with solitude. But she would gladly suffer far more than loneliness in order to keep the world, and her friends, safe.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

She chanted the magic words softly, drawing comfort from their familiarity and the images they brought to mind. Peaceful Azarath. The soaring temple of Metrion. The grand statue of Zinthos. The words themselves had no magic. It was the calming effect they had on her that allowed her to unleash her powers at their greatest strength. The memory of the time she and Starfire had switched bodies floated across her mind and made her smile. The alien girl hadn't even known the truth about those little three words and still had managed to wield them effectively. No doubt it had been because she had _believed_ them to be magic words and that belief had brought the same confidence they brought Raven.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

A few feet away from where she hovered off the ground, the sea began to swirl and bubble quietly. She heard the rush of water from far away and felt the shift in pressure in the air. One eye popped open just in time to see a familiar figure rising up from the depths of the ocean on the back of a whale. Water slid off of him as he stepped from the whale to solid ground, teetering slightly as if the ground was somehow less steady than the sea. He smiled at her, a flash of perfectly straight white teeth, and his black eyes reflected the glow from the dying sun.

"Raven! Just the person I want to see."

She opened her other eye and lifted a brow. "Somehow I doubt that."

Aqualad lifted his slim shoulders and continued to smile charmingly. "Well, it's partly true. I was actually looking for all of you Titans."

"What for?"

"I just finished a patrol and I'm bored out of my mind. You want to go see a movie or something?"

Raven looked at him skeptically. "Don't you have your own tower of Titans?"

He waved that away with one hand. "Bumblebee's busy preparing. For what you ask? I have no idea. Speedy might be cool to hang out with if anyone could get him to drop the mirror for five seconds. And Wally? Well . . . I mean, the guy's name is _Wally_. What am I supposed to do with that?"

"None of the other Titans are here. It's just me."

"Great. We'll have a date. See a movie, grab some dinner, ride a subway. Anything."

Beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable, Raven glanced back at the tower, suddenly wishing that she was in it. The idea of going out into public where there was bound to be crowds of other people did not sit well with her. And the word date for some bizarre reason made her picture Robin, which caused her to remember her irritation. She scowled. "I don't really think—"

He began to shift back and forth slightly, as if trying to mimic the roll of a ship on the ocean. "Come on, Raven. We don't have to get married or anything." He gave an exaggerated wink and leaned forward to add, "Though I wouldn't say no if you asked me. But I draw the line at pre-nups."

She had to chuckle at that. "That's flattering, Aqualad, really but—"

"Come on, have some pity on me. Live a little. Let your hair down. Dance to your own tune. Feel the—"

"Okay, okay! Enough. I'll go. Just please, please, please, do not say feel the rhythm of the night," she warned.

He smiled winningly and clasped his hands behind his back. "I wouldn't dream of it. Shall we take your car or mine?" he asked, motioning to the whale that continued to float on the surface of the ocean like a giant live parking lot. Raven eyed the creature balefully; memories of Beast Boy lurking near the front of her mind. She held out a hand to the Atlantian.

"We'll take mine. My cloak tends to shrink if it gets wet."

Aqualad laughed and stepped closer. "I've never traveled via 'cloak and shadow' though it always looks cool when you do it. Does it hurt? Should I take off my shoes? Or maybe my shirt?" He gave another suggestive wink and wiggled his eyebrows comically.

Raven rolled her eyes. "No, it doesn't hurt. Well, at least I know it doesn't hurt me," she modified. She tapped a finger against her lips and considered. "Have you eaten anything recently?"

He looked a bit confused. "Not in last hour or so, no."

"Good. Beast Boy tends to get a little nauseous. Ready?"

"Hmmmm. Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

0000000000000

"I find it odd that you don't eat fish."

"Why? I live in the ocean."

"My point exactly," Raven said, drawing back her cowl as she stepped from the shadows onto the roof of Titans Tower. "One would assume that as an inhabitant of the ocean, your food supply would come from other life forms indigenous to the sea."

"There is something incredibly sexy about the way you say, 'indigenous.'"

She arched one slim eyebrow and gave him the look she was famous for; deadpan with a hint of menacing annoyance. It made many people cower and back away. It very often made Beast Boy think his life was over. But Aqualad only sighed and smiled a somewhat dreamy smile.

"Wow. The I'm-going-to-kill-you-stare. Definitely sexy."

Raven stared at him, feeling the laughter bubble up from her stomach into her throat. Years of training had her forcing it back down without a second thought. The only sign of her amusement was a quick twitch of her lips. But she felt it deep inside; it was warm and pleasant, chasing away the irritation and frustration she had been feeling earlier. Somewhere in the back of her mind was a tiny sliver of guilt that she was experiencing enjoyment with someone other than her friends, especially since those friends often went out of their way to try and do the same thing. And yet, though she cared very much for the other Titans, considered them her family, she more often than not found their efforts to be . . . . well . . . _annoying_. Not because they were insincere, or unwelcome, or unwanted. But because they tried so hard to "coax her out of her shell," as they thought of it, that it became forced, and it brought with it a kind of pressure. To not disappoint them.

Aqualad hadn't asked her out for her enjoyment. He'd asked her out for _his_. And she found there was pleasure in that. In sharing someone else's fun.

"There is something very wrong with you," she said, stepping to the edge of the roof where she had stood with Robin, only a few nights prior.

He followed, setting one boot up so that he could rest his forearms on his thighs. "Not surprising, considering I spend all my time talking to fish and a guy who calls himself 'Speedy.' I can only wonder what his adoring female fans think he means by it."

"Aqualad," she began, pressing two fingers to her chakra. "There are some things that you should feel free to keep to yourself."

Turning his head, he flashed a charming grin. "By the way, Wally thinks your uniform is wicked hot. That's a direct quote."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously and he laughed the sound carrying through the still air. "And on that note, I'd say it's time for me to go. Unless you want to make-out. Then I'll stay."

Keeping her eyes on his, Raven leaned closer and saw both surprise and excitement shoot across his face. "How about I send you to a desert dimension filled with cannibals?"

The excitement drained out of his face instantly and he gave a small smile as he tugged at the collar of his uniform. "Ahem. Well. Quite an intriguing offer. How about I think it over and get back to you?"

Her lips twitched again as she stepped backwards. "You know where to find me."

"Right. Sure. I'm going now." Aqualad stepped up onto the roof's edge and glanced down at the gently rolling waves below. He turned back towards her, his smile light and easy once more. "I had a good time, Raven. Thanks for hanging out with me."

Then he stretched his arms out and leapt from the tower, twisting into a graceful dive. She leaned over the edge just in time to see him spear into the water with a small splash. Her eyes tried to follow his sleek form but the sea was too far away and too dark. Briefly she wondered if swimming to him was like flying to her. Calming, relaxing. Or was it a constant challenge? To see how fast he could go, how far down? She made a mental note to ask him the next time she spoke with him. It would probably be a while, but she wouldn't forget. She never forgot anything.

"Have fun?"

She knew who it was, without having to turn around. She had felt his presence the moment he had stepped onto the roof. The flat tone that delivered the two words had a hint of anger underneath it and it mirrored the swirl of emotions radiating off of him. Anger and control. Raven breathed in deeply in order to expel the fury that his brought up in her.

"More than I had planned on having," she answered, her gaze still on the ocean. She felt him step closer and was surprised at the image that came unbidden into her mind. Him reaching out, grabbing hold of her shoulders, and giving her a violent shake. His control was slipping and the door between them had been opened again.

"We need to talk."

The simple sentence had irritation skirting up her spine. Oh, yes, the door between their minds was certainly open. Everything he was thinking was slipping its way into her head in a mass of chaos. She had to resist twin urges to cradle her head in her hands and to turn around and slug him. Since neither action would help anything, she remained still, eyes focused on the dark waves.

"You mean, you need to talk, and I need to listen." Raven turned her head to meet his masked gaze. His mouth was set in a firm line. "Listen as you lecture me about how foolish and reckless I was, putting myself in danger like that. How I shouldn't have run off after him like I did, how I should have waited for you, because you're the only one who can be foolish and reckless. Is that about right?"

She didn't need to see the ripple along his jaw to know that she had it exactly right.

"He had a gun to your head," he said through clenched teeth.

Raven turned sharply so that she was facing him. "And he would have had a gun to your head. Would that have been any different? Is that mask bullet proof, Robin?"

His fists clenched at his sides and for half a second, she thought he might hit her. It wasn't a thought that came from him, but from the very back of her mind. As much as she trusted her friends, she was much too familiar with the darker natures of people. She wondered if she would see Robin's darker side at that moment.

But instead he turned on his heel and stalked away. Not to the door like she assumed he would, but to the adjacent edge of the roof. The sun had long since slipped below the horizon and so she could only barely make out the faint outline of him. He leaned forward and pressed his hands flat against the ledge. Even a distance of twenty feet she could feel the hot anger and frustration gushing out of him. And into her. Part of her lapped it up, feeding on it greedily. The other part struggled to channel it. To force it out of her system before it could do serious damage.

One floor below a thick crack snaked across a window pane.

The effort left her slightly dizzy and so it took her a few moments to realize that he had made his way back. He stood in front of her, his hands down at his sides, no longer clenched. His shoulders slumped forward and his face looked . . . sad. Well, as sad as a face can look in a mask. It was no longer anger that Raven felt coming from him. There was something different. An emotion she did not recognize. Directed at her.

Robin looked down at his hands, not sure of where to start. How could he tell her how it had felt to see her standing there, inches away from cold steel and death? He knew the damage bullets could do. Barely half the size of his thumb and yet so deadly. His heart had practically frozen in his chest and the bird-a-rang had been in his hand before he had even realized he had been reaching for it. To lose someone again. He had been right that night on the roof. He wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Raven, I . . .," his voice faltered slightly. "I know, in my head, that you can take care of yourself. Just like I know Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy can take care of themselves. But in my heart . . .," he tapped a finger against his chest when the letter R had been sewn. "You guys are my family. And I guess, when you, any of you, are in danger, I have trouble remembering which organ I'm supposed to be using."

For the third time that evening, Raven felt her irritation slip away. Concern. He was concerned for her. She should have realized that he would be. That it was his nature to think of others before he thought of himself. But she had never had someone concerned for her before. Not since her mother. And even that had been very brief. No one in Azarath had been allowed to feel anything towards her, especially not her mother.

A new image came into her mind and she saw his desire. Though it made her a bit uncomfortable, she reached out, trying to recall how it was done. Awkwardly she put her arms around his slender shoulders, just close enough so that they were barely touching. Then she gave his back two quick pats before stepping backwards. During the entire five seconds it took her to complete the action, he had watched her with a surprised expression. When she pulled away, his lips curved into a curious smile.

"What was that?" he asked, lightly.

She frowned and set one hand on her hip. "A hug," she answered in a tone that dared him to say otherwise. If he laughed, she was going to send him hurtling of the roof and he could spend the rest of the evening enjoying the company of Aqualad's friends.

To Robin's credit, though, he didn't so much as chuckle. He simply tipped his head to one side and said, "Let's try that again," before setting his hands on her hips and pulling her close to him. The smoothness of the action caught her by surprise so that she didn't protest like she was sure she would have. Her heart knocked soundly against the walls of her rib cage when their bodies bumped and their thighs pressed together. His hands slid around her waist, fingers pressing lightly against the small of her back and with a light amount of pressure, he kept her still against him, almost as if he expected her to bolt. She almost considered it. Being that close to someone was not something she was accustomed to and it did not feel particularly pleasant. Her stomach was flopping around like a fish out of water, her throat felt constricted, as did the muscles of her shoulders and where his hands were resting lightly. Plus her skin had goosed so much it was painful and her heart was pounding loud enough to give her a headache.

Then she felt him nestle his chin on her shoulder and sigh. His breath whispered sweetly past her ear and she felt all the tension leave his body. Her stomach stopped jumping and a strange warm sensation spread out from her chest. After a moment's hesitation, she lifted her arms so that they wrapped around his waist in turn and, mirroring his action, she settled her chin over his shoulder.

He sighed again. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you to take care of yourself," she heard him say quietly. Her eyes closed and then opened to stare up at the sky. The first stars were just starting to appear.

"I'm sorry I'm going to destroy your world."

The words slipped out before she could stop them and even as she cursed herself, his hands were pushing her back so that he could look at her. Her violet eyes were steady. As he looked at her, it seemed impossible that she could do what she was so certain she would do. Destroy the world? The young woman in his arms seemed far too fragile to be able to accomplish that. Though she was as tall as he was, her bones were much finer, her limbs far softer. Idly his mind tried to recall the last woman he had hugged. His mother? Some long-forgotten girlfriend? Starfire? He had to admit, hugging Starfire was a very different experience from the one he was having now. Raven's arms were light around him, and he got the impression she wasn't entirely comfortable touching him. When Starfire hugged him, it was nice, but he was somewhat afraid that she would end up crushing his spinal column.

"Robin?"

His attention zeroed back in on Raven's face. She had one eyebrow raised and was slowly starting to pull away from him. He very nearly tightened his grip.

"I wish you wouldn't believe that," he said as he dropped his arms.

Her hands went to her shoulders and drew her hood up. "I wish it wasn't true."

They stood there in the darkness for a long moment, neither one looking away. Finally, Robin shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Come on. We got a movie. The others probably have it set up by now."

"What movie?"

"_Clash of the Titans._"

000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "Why You Should Never Eat Fish Or Pets."

Raven: "I find it odd that you don't eat fish."

Aqualad: "Why? I live in the ocean."

Raven: "Exactly my point. Why wouldn't you eat fish?"

Aqualad: "Well, I have sort of a special relationship with them. It's like; would you eat a house pet?"

Raven: "On Earth or on Azarath?"

Aqualad: "Does that mean you eat pets on Azarath?"

Raven: "That's what they're for. You have them in your house so you don't have to go chasing them at dinner time."

Aqualad: "I think I just threw up in my mouth."

Raven: "Anyway, it just doesn't make any sense that you wouldn't eat fish."

Aqualad: "Actually, it's because they have eyes. I can't eat anything with eyes. It freaks me out. I feel like they're staring at me, judging me with their little beady fish eyes."

Raven: "But when you eat them, they're dead. They can't judge anything."

Aqualad: "Oh, they're supposed to be dead when you eat them?"

0000000000000000000000000000000

Well, since everything is moving along so swimmingly, I thought I'd take a moment to thanks all the kind folks who have been leaving me reviews. If I miss anyone, please forgive me. My computer's sort of glitchy for some reason.

_Chica De Los Ojos Café_: Ah, fantabulous. Such a good word. Glad you like the story.

_They Call Me Sweetsnow_: Thanks. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd probably write an entire story of Titans Theaters.

_xdire.vixenx_: Thanks for reading and liking and thinking it's funny. I can never resist throwing in some humor, even when it's a really serious moment.

_ mysti-eyed_: Glad you like it. Chapter 4's probably my favorite so far because of all the stuff squeezed in there.

_ ray1_: They are awfully stubborn aren't they? Someone ought to knock their heads together. Someone like Cyborg. Hmm….mental note….

_connaka_: THANKS.

_Cherry Jade_: Glad you like it. Robin is a protective sort of guy, though he should probably look out for himself a bit more often.

_Lost1n7heDark_: More. Here. Thanks.

_LCO100_: Thanks. I was a little worried people would be bugged by the double dose of T-Car action. There were actually 4 conversations I considered using. Thought about using them all and then thought, hmmm, overkill maybe.

_czee_: Thanks a lot. Glad you like it.

_raggedywings_: Glad you find it interesting. Hopefully, it'll stay interesting.

_HermioneGranger22491_: Thanks a lot! I'm kinda fond of it myself.

_Crzy Grl_: Double S? Wow, no one's ever called me that before. :turns to underlyings: all of you call me Double S from now on. Anyhoo, glad you like the story! I enjoyed having Raven kick Robin's ass. It'll probably happen again. Hmmm…it sure seems like Robin might be visiting Raven's mind at some point…..have to keep reading to find out.

_Betrayed05_: Sorry I couldn't get the chapters out before you left. But hopefully you've come home to a couple new chapters and that will make up for my horrid lateness. Glad you're enjoying the story. Hope you had fun wherever you went.

_RavenFlyingSolo_: Thanks a lot! I do enjoy my wit. We get along smashingly.


	6. A Lovely Day To Die

_ The day began like countless others. With the sun rising slowly, casting its bright light over the calm waters of the bay, causing the placid surface to sparkle like diamonds. The crisp night air began to warm and the sky began to lighten to a brilliant shade of blue. The stars all fled from view, hiding their winking eyes like shy children. Of the night time jewels, only the moon remained, faded slightly when compared to the brightness of its larger cousin. But it was too old, and too accustomed to the sun's presence to be chased away._

_ And then it all changed._

_ The sun that had been in the midst of bringing warmth and light to the world suddenly turned black. Night, deeper and blacker than was natural, swiftly descended once more, bringing with it not fresh, cool air but the hot, heavy smell of sulfur and brimstone. The calm sea began to bubble and boil, the soothing blue waters darkening to crimson. Fire flashed along the edge of the sky, cutting jagged cracks across the once smooth surface. The earth shuddered and groaned as if it were being torn apart. And from everywhere came a voice that reverberated throughout the world, over oceans and mountains, through steel and concrete._

_ "The gem was born of evil's fire._

_ The gem shall be his portal._

_ He comes to claim, he comes to sire,_

_ The end of all things mortal._

_ What comes in darkness, _

_ what comes in shadow,_

_ shall spare the sightless_

_ and consume the hallow."_

_ With the final words, a wall of fire washed over everything, consuming all and sparing nothing._

Raven awoke with a gasp, one hand grasping at her heart where a vicious pain bloomed ripe and raw. Each breath she drew in felt as if it passed through a hundred razor blades. Her eyes burned with the remnants of the vision while her head pounded with both hurt and a damning echo of the prophecy that haunted her. She could hear the voice still, could feel the fire as it raced over her skin, could smell the rancid stench of hell. There was more pain racing through her body, carving intricate patterns into her feverish skin. She did not have to look to know that the markings were there, bright and violent against the pale grey.

Slowly the vision began to fade, replaced by soft darkness, familiar darkness. There was the quiet grey of her ceiling, the subdued purple of her bed. For a long while Raven laid still, her eyes wide and unblinking. Her thumb involuntarily stroked the skin over her heart and her breathing gradually began to even out. Just a dream. A nightmare.

Her eyes closed briefly and when they open again, they were filled with a great emptiness. Not a nightmare. A vision. Of the future. Of what she was destined to bring. Would it truly happen so quickly? Merely a flash of fire and pain and then nothing? Or would the agony be spread out over centuries, a slow torture, seemingly without end? Her father could bring both, depending on his mood, his whims.

She rolled over onto her side and for a moment, fresh pain bloomed in her heart. Was that all she was? A whim? A thing created to bring about destruction? A simple tool to be discarded after serving its purpose? Was that _all_ she was?

From deep within her mind that came a ravenous chuckle. _Yes_.

Clenching her fists so tightly that her short nails began to bite into her skin, Raven sat up and threw back the tangled, sweat soaked sheets that covered her. Her legs wanted to tremble but she gritted her teeth and locked her knees. She pushed herself off of her bed and onto her feet, ignoring the protests of her aching muscles. They were tired. She was tired. Sleep had been troublesome as of late, burdened with visions and messages from daddy dearest. Her lips curled into a something reminiscent of a snarl and she stalked over to her dresser. To the ornate hand mirror that rested on it. She had a message for him. Both hands slapped down on either side of it as she stared into the reflective surface.

It did not take long for the four glowing red eyes to appear.

"I won't make it easy for you. Do you hear me? You may haunt my dreams, infest my mind, blight my soul, but I won't come willingly."

_Ah, but you've no choice. It is your destiny. Your purpose. When the time comes, you will be unable to heed the call._

Her fingers dug into the wood of the dresser as the voice rumbled in her head, mocking. She lowered her head closer to the mirror.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying, good always triumphs over evil? I'll find a way."

There was another chuckle. _Good?_ _My daughter, you forget what you are. _

Raven straightened, sliding her control into place over her fury and indignation. And sorrow. "No," she said quietly, holding one arm out. Her cloak rose up from the high backed chair that she had tossed it over the night before. The soft fabric felt strangely cool against her fingers as she slipped it around her shoulders and secured the clasp.

"I never forget anything."

Though she called herself weak and the gesture petty, she picked up the mirror by its smooth silver handle and flipped it over. But it did not stop the laughter from rolling through her mind.

000000000000

The common area of Titans Tower was a flurry of activity that morning, each Titan in various stages of breakfast. Starfire was busy working her way through an enormous plate of something blue, furry, and possibly still alive. But by the blissful expression on the alien princess' face, Raven concluded that it had been prepared exactly to her liking.

She only barely resisted the shudder.

Cyborg had a plate heaped with waffles, melting butter, and thick syrup. He was carting it over to the table with his own expression of delight covering his face. She couldn't tell if this would be his first helping or his sixth. Not that he would enjoy them any less if they were his two-hundredth.

She very nearly let the smile slip.

Tucked into the corner of the kitchen, Beast Boy was in the midst of stirring something in a pan. By his enormous grin, cheerful whistling, and the slightly plastic smell that tinged the air, Raven figured he was cooking up his infamous tofu, in one form or another. Her suspicion was confirmed when he called over his shoulder, "Who wants some nutritious, delicious tofu eggs?"

The only response came from Cyborg, who threw a plate at his head.

Her sigh was silent.

She stepped into the small kitchen area and, nimbly avoiding shards of broken crockery, pressed her palm flat against the side of Beast Boy's head while reaching into a cupboard for her tea kettle and one of her cups. There was a brief glow beneath her fingers and the tiny gash on his forehead closed. His eyes cleared and his hand immediately flew to the spot where it had been throbbing just seconds before.

"Wow. I can never get used to that," he admitted with a chuckle. "Thanks Raven."

She nodded, her attention focused on the cabinet in front of her. Where was her kettle? Hadn't she put it away the night before?

"Here." There was a quiet click of ceramic against tile.

Her eyes lowered to the counter where a gloved hand had set a steaming cup of tea down. She followed the arm as it retracted and found herself looking at Robin, who held a mug of his own. He jerked a thumb towards the stove. Her tea kettle was resting on one of the burners.

"I borrowed your kettle. I hope that's alright."

Raven stared at him blankly for a moment. Then shifted her gaze to the kettle. Then back to him. For some reason, she felt that it wasn't alright. That it was somehow very . . . . . unsettling. And that was strange. After all, it was just a tea kettle. Not particularly valuable or sentimental. Just something to boil hot water in. And yet, none of the other Titans had used it before. Certainly not Robin who, despite being a few months past eighteen, seemed to be shameless addicted to coffee.

"Raven?"

She zeroed back in of him and saw he was watching her with an expression that was half amused, half concerned. And wondered, idly, how it was possible for a face to be so expressive when a good portion of it was covered.

"No. Yes. That's fine. I . . ," she heard herself fumbling and was slightly appalled by it. "I didn't realize you drank tea," she finished lamely, resisting the urge to scrub her hands over her face. The lack of sleep and of meditation was starting to take its toll. At this rate she'd destroy the world before her father even got there. Wouldn't that be lovely? Sort of like an early Father's Day present. _Here Pops, I know its a couple weeks early but I destroyed the earth for you._

Azar.

Robin took a small sip from his mug and shrugged. "I'll let you in on a little secret." He leaned forward slightly and continued in a staged whisper, "I hate coffee. Like, really, really hate it."

"I would have never guessed, considering how much of it you inhale."

He chuckled. "Well we non-super heroes have to keep the energy up somehow. Though I should see if Cyborg can't hook me up with a caffeine patch or something."

Raven heard the slight bitterness that colored his tone whenever his lack of "superpowers" was mentioned and as always, it puzzled her. Did he truly think he was so powerless, simply because he couldn't shoot energy from his hands or lasers from his eyes? Did he think it was a blessing, a gift to be able to wield such terrible power?

If he did, she was going to whack him over the head with the frying pan Beast Boy had left on the stove.

How could she explain to him what it was like to know that you could level an entire city with merely a thought? How could she explain the terror that came with it? Knowing that you were the only thing that could stop you. How frightening that was. How exhilarating. How seductive.

In the end, because she couldn't explain it, she said nothing. Merely stared down at her cup of tea that was rapidly beginning to cool.

"You don't have to drink it."

She glanced up again and he motioned to the cup. "You can pour it out. I won't be offended. You probably like to make it yourself."

Before she even realized it, she was shaking her head. "No. It's fine," she said, lifting the cup. "Ah . . . thank you." She took a small, testing sip.

And nearly gagged.

Robin, perfectionist in all things, made lousy tea.

Raven managed to swallow without a visible grimace. "It's very . . . strong," she settled on, turning out of the kitchen. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed, irritated, or content when he followed her. Together they left behind the noise and activity in the common room and entered into the long hall that would lead to the elevator. Robin waited until the doors were closed before he spoke.

"Are you alright? You look a little . . . rough."

Lifting one brow, she shot him a bland look. "Thanks. All that beauty sleep must really be working."

The doors to the elevator opened to the roof. She stepped off first, catching the morning breeze as it ruffled through her hair and her cloak.

"Nightmares?" he pressed.

Caught off guard, she spun around and nearly knocked heads with him. One look at his face told her that he hadn't been asking a question. The same feeling of concerned radiated off of him that she had felt the night before.

"How did you . . .," she trailed off when he tapped his forehead, his lips curving slightly.

"Looks like someone needs to focus a bit more."

It was a bit of a struggle to keep an answering smile of off her face, but she managed. Instead of answering right aware, Raven turned and headed towards the roof's edge. What was it about that spot that drew her to it so often? Was it the view of the water? The way the entire world seemed to be spread out before her? The openness? And what about Robin? What drew him back time and time again? The height no doubt, she thought. The boy did seem to enjoy teetering above everything, inches away from a perilous fall with only his wits and his gadgets to save him.

"I've had some trouble meditating these past few weeks. I'm sorry if I dragged you into my dreams."

He shrugged a vague lifting of his shoulders. "It's not a problem. Though maybe next time you could try for something a little less Revelations."

"I'll see what I can do."

Serious again, Robin stepped up beside her, following her gaze out. What did she see when she looked out over the water? The world that was before her? Or a world submerged in flame? Which would she prefer?

The questioned shamed him. Though not as much as his inability to answer it. Rather violently, he pushed the thought aside. He _would not_ doubt his friend.

"Is it Trigon who's sending you these visions?" he asked. She closed her eyes for a long moment and he wondered if he was going to get her standard line of; _it's none of your business_. But, like she often did, she surprised him.

"In a way. He doesn't communicate with me directly but . . .," she paused, as if searching for the right words to explain. "But I am a part of him. Not just as his daughter but physically a part of him. That's how demons spawn. By passing part of their essence on. That is where my powers come from." She turned her head so that she could meet his masked eyes. Because it was important that he understand what he often envied. "They come from him."

He nodded slowly and she could see that he had gathered her meaning. Both of them. "So the part of you that is him, sort of sends you his thoughts?"

"Basically."

"And because it's part of you, you can't really block it out, which means you can't focus enough to meditate."

"Yes."

Robin folded his arms across his chest and rubbed the bottom of his chin. "But you didn't seem to have any trouble when you were showing me how to focus my thoughts."

She blinked rapidly and he could see that he had hit upon something she hadn't considered. "No," she said slowly, rolling the memory over in her mind. "I didn't. Probably because we were in your mind instead of mine."

"Do you think it would help you if we mediated together?"

Raven stared at him. There it was again. That same strange warmth in her chest that she had felt when he had gathered her close. So unfamiliar. On Azarath, she had only known two emotions. Anger and hatred, both directed at her . . . at Trigon. Time spent with the Titans had introduced her to several more. Irritation, Annoyance, Concern, Frustration, Sorrow, Care. This new one did not feel like any of those, or maybe it was better to say it felt like _all_ of them. And more.

The Titan's alarm sounded, cutting off any further introspective. Catching Robin's eye, she grabbed hold of his arm and sank them through the floor.

000000000000000000000000000

The building was one of those modern miracles; a gleaming tower of glass and steel that speared up towards the heavens, stunning onlookers as they tilted their heads back, their eyes searching for the top. They called it ingenious, the ability to build so high with such strength and yet retain such a fragile appearance. To them, it looked like one strong gust of wind would blow it over, though they were assured that it could withstand a level three hurricane.

To Robin, it was three thousand tons of metal and concrete that could come crashing down, crushing innocent people. It was surrounded by dozens of police cars and emergency vehicles, not to mention an ever growing crowd of spectators pushed back behind blue barricades. What was it about tragedy or tragedy in progress that drew people? Did they really feel a need to see death up close and personal? Did it remind them of their own mortality? Or was it just a wicked kind of glee that it was happening to someone else?

His eyes scanned the base of the building, trying to peer through the dark glass to see where the trouble was. But only his reflection stared back at him.

"What's the situation?" he asked the plain clothed policeman who was brushing past him. The lieutenant looked up, surprise running across his thick features. Surprise quickly shifted into relief.

"Oh, it's you. Thank God." The lieutenant glanced around. "Where are the others?"

"They're on their way."

"Oh. Look, it's pretty bad. We've got some whack job in there, says he's wired explosives around the buildings joints, enough to have it come down on our heads."

"What does he want?"

The lieutenant looked suddenly and distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, look. Normally I wouldn't think about negotiating with terrorists but . . .," he trailed off, turning his eyes to the building and rubbing at the back of his neck. "But there are a bunch of kids in there. Little ones."

Robin kept his voice flat though something cold and sharp clenched in his stomach. "What does he want?"

"He wants me."

Raven's voice cut through the noise of sirens as she dropped from the sky, landing silently beside the policeman. She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that right?"

"You Raven?"

She nodded.

"Then yeah, you're the one he's looking for. Says anybody else tries to get in, he blows the building. You don't come in, same deal. Fuck," he muttered, digging into the pocket of his jacket for a pack of cigarettes. Pulling one out he stuck it between his thin lips, then wordlessly offered the pack to Raven. Recognizing the gesture, her lips curled faintly.

"Those things will kill you."

"No shit, but so will a building when it collapses on you," the lieutenant said, bringing out battered silver lighter. While he clicked the igniter with his thumb, trying to coax out a spark, Raven turned to Robin. He stood with his back stiff and his arms folded across his chest. If he had been given heat vision, he probably would have melted the building into a smoldering pile by the strength of his stare. She could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he calculated their next move.

"Do we have a time limit?" he asked the cop. The lieutenant nodded.

"Gave us fifteen to contact you." He glanced at his watch. "'Bout eight left. Shit. Gotta go have my boys clear the area." With that he hurried off, giving off orders in a clipped shout to the dozen or so uniformed officers that were nearby.

"Alright," Robin began, dropping his hands to his sides. "Here's what we'll do. We'll wait for the others to get here. Then we'll—"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "You heard him, Robin. We don't have time to wait, nor can we risk disobeying the . . . 'whack job's' orders."

"I am not sending you in there alone." His voice was firm. "It's dangerous and it's stupid to give him another hostage."

"I agree. However," she continued before he could jump in, "we don't have much of a choice."

Robin knew she was right; knew that however much it galled him, they had to go along with the perpetrator's demands. At least until they could get everyone else away from danger. He knew that. Or, more specifically, his mind knew that. But other parts of him were less than sure. Still, just because she had to go in alone, did not mean necessarily that she had to _be_ alone. He dug into his utility belt and came up with a small ear piece.

"Keep in contact. I want to know the second that everyone is clear."

Raven nodded and fit the tiny device into place, twisting the end to turn it on. She waited a moment for him to slip one into his own ear. When he gave her the go ahead she started toward the building, cloak fluttering behind her. As she drew nearer, she began to be able to see motion behind the dark glass. Motion broken up by and hidden behind bright sunspots and the towering skyscrapers behind her. She paused at the door and looked back over her shoulder at Robin, thirty feet away.

"If something goes wrong, I expect you to fix it," she said dryly, both to test the communication line and to bolster him.

He heard her clearly but for some reason, her voice failed to reassure him. Instead it felt very strange to hear it inside of his ear. Strange and intimate. Across the thirty feet of paved street and concrete sidewalk their eyes met and heat gathered at the back of his neck. As if the sun had suddenly descended to within inches of his skin. His heartbeat quickened. _Can't be nervous. Have to trust her._

"He was right, you know," he called out, more to calm himself than her.

He could see one of her eyebrows rise.

"That uniform is wicked hot."

00000000000000000000000000000

The door closed behind her with a quiet click, though Raven could barely hear it over the whimpering that was coming from the twenty or so bodies spread out on the glossy floor of the lobby. Her gaze flickered over each one, silently counting. _19. 20. 21._ It was difficult to concentrate. Their fear was heavy, intoxicating. She breathed in deeply, slowly siphoning the tangled emotions, feeling them course through her veins and over her skin. The whimpers quieted. _22. 23. 24._

He stood over them all, a tall column of crimson atop the marble topped security desk, a small black box in one hand. In the other was the same enormous gun he had held to her forehead just days before. His masked eyes were trained on her; had been since the moment she had stepped through the door.

"It's him," she said quietly. There was a small blip of static, followed by Robin's voice.

"Who?"

"The man from the quarry. Looks like he has a remote detonator. There are twenty-four hostages that I can see."

"Get them out of there."

Raven continued forward, her soft boots silent as they moved over the floor. She stopped a few feet from him.

"Let them go."

His response was swift. He lifted the gun, pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger. The bullet whipped through the air on a direct course for the center of her head. She didn't even flinch. Before the steel could bury itself in pale flesh it was engulfed in dark magic. Silently it hovered in the air for a moment, and then fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Let them go," she repeated.

If he was surprised or awed by her display of power, he didn't show it. Just continued to watch her wordlessly. She held his gaze while her mind carefully ticked through different ways to get at the hostages. They were too spread out for her to tuck them under her cloak. If she tried to attack him he would no doubt set off the explosives. As strong as her powers were, she wasn't sure she could hold up an entire building. Perhaps if she could distract him . . .

But before she could think of how, he swept his gun hand toward the glass doors. "Anyone who wants to live should leave now."

Raven remained rooted where she was while the bodies began streaming past her toward the exit. She knew that he did not include her in his statement. Behind her the doors clicked shut for the second time, filling the room again with silence.

"Curious yet, Raven? As to why I asked for you? And who I am?" His voice had the same mechanical grate to it. She resisted rolling her eyes. Villains.

"Considering that you've twice held a gun to my head and all but admitted it last time, I'm fairly certain you want to kill me. And since I've never seen you before, I can only assume someone is paying you to do it. As to who you are," now her voice took on a slight sneer, "I'm sure you're about to tell me."

He hooked his gun over his shoulder and though she couldn't see his mouth behind his mask, she got the distinct impression that he was smiling.

"Clever little mouth you have." He began to pace back and forth, his thumb idly clicking the black box in his hand. "But it is true. I have been hired to kill you, though my employers were a little lax in their details concerning your abilities." His fingers tightened on the handle of his gun. Raven caught the slight movement, as well as the sudden surge of anger that rolled off of him. _Not so calm and collected, are you?_

"How very unlike Slade," she ventured, wondering how far she could push his emotions. Too far and he'd be uncontrollable. But just far enough and he'd make a mistake. One was all she would need.

He stopped his pacing and laughed, an oddly hollow sound that reminded her of ice being scraped off of metal.

"I don't know how you knew he was my brother, but you're very wrong if you think he's the one behind this."

"Then who is behind it?" she pressed. He squatted down, his arms dangling between his legs in a familiar stance.

"You're a smart girl, Raven. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Of course, it might be difficult to do so," he held up the black box, his thumb posed over it, "when you're dead."

"Guess again."

They both turned towards the voice, just in time to see the bird-a-rang whipped through the air and smash into the box, sending bits of plastic flying. Not wanting a repeat of last time, Raven immediately reached back toward the criminal, magic gathering in her fingertips. But something hard and heavy connected with her forehead, causing an explosion of colors behind her eyes. Her vision splintered and she staggered. The sound of footsteps rang loudly in her ears; he was getting away. She managed one step forward before she fell to her knees and felt strong hands grasp her shoulders.

"Raven? Are you alright?"

She looked up and saw Robin's face wavering back and forth. "I don't think so. Unless you've always had two heads."

"He clocked you pretty good," he said, brushing his fingers over the skin that was already beginning to swell.

"No thanks to you." Raven closed her eyes against both the pain and the dizziness. It surprised her that she very much wanted to lay her throbbing head against his shoulder. _How weak you've grown. Depending on the comfort of mortals._ Despising the voice, and the truth that it spoke, she pulled out of Robin's hold.

"He's getting away," she mumbled, rising unsteadily to her feet. Robin reached out again to help her and was startled when she swatted his hands away.

"Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy are set up around the building. He's not getting away. He's—"

BOOM!

The explosion rocked through the building's frame, sending out an enormous shockwave that rolled over them like a tidal wave. Robin felt himself shoved backwards, his body flying through the air and landing with a crack against the marble security desk. His shoulder hit first and he heard the sickening snap of bones breaking. Shock and pain radiated through him, constricting his chest so that he had to gasp for air. A swell of heat raced through him, followed by a freezing cold. Struggling to focus, he clutched his arm and searched for Raven, his mind only vaguely aware that chunks of building material were falling down around him.

She lay crumpled on the floor, a good ten feet from where he was. Motionless. His throat closed. Then she began to move, pushing herself up onto her knees and shaking her head slowly.

"Raven," he whispered with relief, grimacing as the pain continued to lance through him like tiny daggers. As if she heard him, Raven turned her head. Her eyes widened. He saw her mouth form his name but couldn't hear the word over the buzzing in his head and the roaring in his ears. Robin followed her gaze up and saw the huge chuck of concrete descending towards him. It came within inches of his face and then exploded, spilling a storm of dust and debris over him. Behind his mask his eyes began to water and he coughed as he ineffectually tried to wave the smoke away with his good arm. Another, much smaller piece of building came crashing down, slamming onto his injured shoulder. For a moment everything went black. When he surfaced moments later, his stomach did a long, greasy roll.

He felt a brush on his leg and saw that Raven had managed to close the distance between them. The look of pain etched into her features was no less than his own. She lifted her arms, calling up a protective dome of black energy to cover them. Then, breathing heavily, she looked up through the wall of purple hair that had fallen forward over her face and met his gaze.

"How bad are you?"

"Not sure," he answered, feeling sweat roll down his cheek. But he felt so cold. "Clavicle. Humerous. My pinky toe." He meant it as a joke but with all the pain rolling through him, he couldn't be sure it wasn't true. "Can you get us out of here?"

She shook her head and immediately regretted it. The spinning nearly pitched her forward. "No. I can't . . focus enough."

BAM!

Something crashed against the shield, causing it to flicker. He saw her shudder as if absorbing the blow. The look of concentration on her face was fierce but he could tell by the glassiness of her eyes that just maintaining the shield was difficult. His stomach tightened and then, just as abruptly, a calm descended over him.

"We're going to make it."

A bit of sharpness came back into her eyes. "Got something in that utility belt that will stop a building?"

"No. I trust you."

"Gee, thanks." But the simple words helped beat back the terror that had been threatening to overwhelm her. She gritted her teeth against the pain and struggled to clear her mind. _Focus. Focus._

He laughed softly. "So why weren't you in the T-car?" he asked, while all around them debris continued to fall in a rain of destruction.

"I asked Beast Boy if he wanted to switch."

"And he agreed?"

"Not willingly."

SLAM!

The shield wavered again and the force of the blow pushed her forward, all but into Robin's lap. Her hands slapped down on either side of his hips and she just managed to keep her face from smashing into his chest. The fingers of his good hand wrapped around her arm to steady her. And then to keep her still. Raven looked up and saw that he had an odd little smile on his face.

"You know, just in case we do die here," he began, wetting his lips with his tongue. A strange kind of heat gathered in her stomach.

"You're not going to tell me that you've secretly been in love with me are you?"

His smile widened. "Raven, I'm not even sure I like you half the time."

Her eyes narrowed. "Same goes."

"But I might never have this chance again."

"What chance is—"

She broke off as he gave her arm a sharp tug, tumbling her into him. Her spine stiffened at the contact but when she lifted her head again to scold him, she froze completely. Their mouths hovered inches away from each other. She could feel his warm breath feathering across her lips and it played havoc with her already fractured concentration.

Then he leaned up and closed the gap between them, pressing his mouth firmly against hers.

The heat inside of her exploded and flooded her body like liquid fire. A shudder that had nothing to do with falling debris coursed over her skin, followed by the crackle of energy. She felt it flowing out of her, uncontrolled and fought to pull it back. Her hands lifted to his shoulders, intent on pushing him away. Then he bit, none-too-gently, her bottom lip and she forgot all about fighting. Her fingers curled into his shirt.

There was excruciating pain running along his right side but the moment Raven's lips had met his it had begun to fade into the background. He wasn't one-hundred percent sure why he kissed her. Curiosity. The nearness of death. A mixture of the two that had culminated in a sudden, violent attraction. But now he found himself wondering why he hadn't ever tried it before. Her mouth was soft and sweet, and surprisingly warm as it lightly brushed against his.

Raven pulled away, her fingers still clutching his shirt, her head bowed so as not to meet his eyes. Her heart beat thickly in her ears and she felt wildly dizzy. Though, she couldn't be sure if that was from him or from the blow to her head. The scent of him, a heady fusion of sweat, soap, and hair gel, filled her nose. She wanted to pull further away, but couldn't seem to gather the strength.

"Raven?"

She swallowed. "What?"

"Is it over?"

For a moment, she had no idea what he was talking about. And then she realized she could no longer hear any crashing or crunching. Weakly she reached out a hand, brushing against the solid black of her magic. It dispersed immediately, and light momentarily blinded them both. When they could see again, they found that they were in the middle of towering piles of rubble, all that was left of the once magnificent building. The concrete ceiling was gone, replaced by the blue, cloudless sky.

Awestruck, Robin turned his masked eyes to Raven. "You did it."

She looked at him and felt her heart quiver. _What have I done?_ "Go me," she said mirthlessly.

Then promptly passed out.

000000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "Some Food For Thought."

Robin: What are you thinking about?

Raven: Life. Death. Prophecy. Imminent destruction. You?

Robin: I'm not sure if I want pancakes or waffles.

Raven: . . . .Waffles.

Robin: Yeah?

Raven: Beast Boy makes terrible pancakes.

BB: Dude, I heard that! That's SO not true!

Raven: You're right. Beast Boy's pancakes aren't terrible. They're the worst things anyone could try and eat in this galaxy, the next, and the 300 hundred dimensions in-between.

Cyborg: That's cold.

BB: Yeah. Do you even HAVE pancakes where you're from?

Raven: Something like them. Fleshcakes.

BB: Gulp. I don't want to ask you questions ever again.

Starfire: Please. What are "fleshcakes" made out of?"

Robin: You don't have to answer that.

0000000000000000000000000000000000

Author's Note

Whew, really long chapter that time. Sorry. I kept wanting to end it and then I was like, "eh, then I'll have two short chapters." It's a very Raven-Saves-The-Day chapter but frankly, I think Robin has that honor just a little too often. Got to spread the magic around. Or whatever. Anway!

_Chica De Los Ojos Café_: Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I was reading this comic where Wally was confessing his undying love for Raven. I think it was supposed to be a serious moment but I couldn't help chuckling. He was all like, "Raven, I've loved you since the moment I saw you!" And she calmly explained that if she ever felt anything, she'd destroy the entire planet. And then he was like, "Holy shit, guess I shouldn't have been hitting on you."

_autumn in bloom_: Thanks! Please, by all means, keep reading! Otherwise I'd have to go back to the streets and my bad performance art.

_Fortex_: Glad you like it. I think Slade's family is really interesting and messed up. I keep meaning to go deeper into it but they're a slippery bunch. Just seem to pop in and pop out. The thing with Robin is that combat wise, he's always going to fall short of those that have superpowers. But then, it's not his combat prowess that makes him interesting as a character. I think it's the fact that he throws himself into mortal peril without having any kind of safety net that makes him cool. He's the kind of character that jumps off a building and then figures out how he's going to land.

_Harpiebird_: Thanks!

_Haruka-Clone_: Glad you're enjoying it.

_watergoddess08_: Thanks! No worries. Appreciate you reviewing now.

_Lost1n7heDark_: Thanks! Um . . . a plum?

_Lynx16_: Glad you like it. Doing my best.

_Confushes the wise man_: Thanks. It will definitely be continued. We have quite a ways to go before we reach the end. Which, incidentally, I have already written.

_nightwingluver_: Glad you're enjoying it! I think there will probably be a couple Robin saves the day moments, hopefully with smoother results.

_xdire.vixenx_: I'm excited that you're excited. Thanks for reviewing.

_Cherry Jade_: I don't know. Personally, I think Robin _was_ just a tiny bit jealous. I love _Clash of the Titans_. Couldn't resist throwing it in there and it seemed appropriate.

_Neko_: Glad you like it! Workin' on a couple more pictures that I hope to have up someday.

_finalitylife_: Thanks a lot. It's tricky being original while still trying to tie together elements that have already been used. Glad it seems fresh.

_They Call Me Sweetsnow_: Yeah, I admit. The last Theater was pretty freaky. This one too, actually. And hey, I don't have any problem with people called Wally. It's all Aqualad. He's got a mind of his own. But glad you liked it.

_mysti-eyed_: Thanks! I like that chapter too. Aqualad was a wicked fun character to write. Sometimes I think hugs are better than random making-out. Not to discount random making-out or anything.

_ray1_: Gotcha. Beast Boy. :scribbles a note: Beast Boy is actually growing on me. I think if they just made his head a little smaller, it would be easier for me to like him. Big heads freak me out. I'm not sure why. I like the humanness of Robin. I always think of Batman as being unfailingly stoic and Robin as the kid who tries to emulate him, but doesn't quite manage it one hundred percent.


	7. Internal Dialogue

_ Darkness fell on once sunny glades and the ravens chased all the robins away._

_ I journeyed far from my four walls and asked the Earth in his slumbering halls,_

_ "Tell me, oh Earth, this small little thing, of the life that this newborn child shall sing."_

_ And he said, "For evermore the dark comes down on you all, for no light upon this child ever shall fall._

_ The land will grow cold and the sun will dim. It is only shadow that this child may bring."_

_ From there I wandered across placid bays and asked the Sea amidst his tumbling waves,_

_ "Tell me, oh Sea, for I wish to know, what great glories shall this child sow?"_

_ And he said, "Though she may struggle, though she may rave, a road for evil this child shall pave._

_ By her hand the darkness will continue to grow, and all of mankind shall at once be laid low."_

_ And so I traveled long to the mountains on high until I could lift my voice to the Sky,_

_ "Tell me, oh Sky, what should be done, with this child that threatens ruin to everyone?"_

_ And he said, "Not all those that know sorrow shall cry. Not all those that speak shall tell lies._

_ And while what is dark is wicked to some, black may turn white and evil, overcome."_

_ Thus a child was born with violet eyes and named for the raven that falls through the skies._

Raven heard the words echoing in her ears, chanted softly by a chorus of deep baritones. She knew where she was even before she opened her eyes and saw the familiar background. The song of her birth could be heard in only two places—the Tower of Beginnings in the very heart of Azarath, or deep within the twisted folds of her own memory, the devastated landscape that she had once named Nevermore. Sure enough, as her eyelids lifted slowly, she saw the dark sky and the jagged shards of stone that would form a path through her mind. She felt the ground beneath her and saw that she was lying facedown as if she had collapsed. With arms that felt strangely weak, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and felt pain roll through her head like water in a bottle. Not far from where she sat she saw a group of hooded figures, their cloaks drawn close to them, hiding their shapes and faces from her. It was from them that the words to the song came.

She flicked a hand towards them and they abruptly scattered, like a murmur of ravens. Then she pressed the same hand to her forehead as if she could draw her own pain out. Questions began to dribble into her mind. Why was she in Nevermore? Had she been meditating?

No. The explosion. It flashed across her memory like a bolt of lightning and suddenly the sky of Nevermore lit up for a few brief seconds. That's right. There had been an emergency called in from the World Bank downtown. Hostages. The strange assassin from the quarry. He had spoken to her again, taunting her with the knowledge that someone wanted her dead. Then there had been pain as he struck her. Stupid to have turned away, to have been distracted. He had gotten away and must have remote detonated the bombs he had planted in the buildings joints. Her fingers began to rub her temple as the memories whirled by faster. There had been a shockwave, and then debris falling as the building started to come down. She had tried to use her magic to block it. To shield herself and Robin from the down pouring concrete and steel. And Robin had—

Her cheeks flushed and her spine involuntarily straightened. That didn't matter now. The exertion combined with the blow to her head must have drained her and she had probably passed out. Annoying and not very heroic, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She needed to focus on healing herself before they went ahead and tried some of their Earthen healing ways on her. The thought made her shudder.

Slowly Raven rose to her feet, feeling all the aches and pains from the various injuries she had sustained. Still, she hesitated for a moment. In order to heal herself completely, she was going to need a bit of help. That meant communicating with her emotions which, since having been shown how to do so at the tender age of seven, she had never been fully comfortable with. It was one thing to reflect on yourself as a whole. It was another to consider each part of yourself individually. She found dealing with her emotions mildly embarrassing and often unsettling. Especially Happiness. It was difficult to imagine any part of her being reflected in that pink-cloaked, childish feeling.

Azar, Beast Boy _still_ wouldn't let that go.

And yet as uncomfortable as she was around them, and as unable as she was to display them, they were still part of her. And she did need their help. Sighing, she crossed her wrists in front of her chest and closed her eyes. When she meditated in Nevermore, she often went out seeking her emotions, visiting them each in their own separate section of her mind. It was something of a ritual, the wandering, but it would take far too long and would give Cyborg and his blinking, humming machines much too much time with her unconscious body. And while she trusted the half-man, half-machine with her life, she really, really did not like his machines. Or the needles that they often used.

No, she would not seek out her emotions. This time, as in other times of need, they would come to her.

Raven called out to them silently in her mind and they appeared almost instantly, like ghosts riding on the wind. Each one had her face; the only thing that distinguished them from each other was the color of their cloaks. An ingenious idea on her part. It kept things simple. She studied each one of them in turn, taking a second to strengthen the link between herself and them.

In soft yellow was Wisdom, who nodded slightly and pushed her thin glasses up further. Beside her, in hunter green was Courage, cracking her knuckles loudly. At each pop, grey cloaked Timid winced as if she were on the receiving end of a blow. Draped in royal purple, Kindness patted the small emotion's shoulder reassuringly, while glaring in exasperation at Courage. Who rolled her eyes back. Eyes darting back and forth between them, Fear wrapped her cloak closer about her as if she expected a riot to break out at any moment. On the ground next to her, rolled up in a somewhat dingy orange cloak, was Laziness who, judging by the snores coming from her, was asleep. Kneeling over her, giggling maniacally with her pink cloak pushed back over her shoulders, a can of whip cream in her hand, and a large feather, was Happiness.

Sighing again, Raven's gaze continued past Happiness into empty space.

There was one missing.

"Where's Anger?" she asked, shifting her eyes back to the other emotions. They were all silent. Suspiciously silent. Her eyes narrowed. "Where is Anger?" she repeated, setting her fists on her hips, a premonition of doom coming over her. Silence again.

Then a giggle.

Raven glanced over at Happiness, who was grinning from ear to ear. Literally.

"Happiness? Do you know where Anger is?"

Happiness nodded. Raven struggled to keep from gritting her teeth.

"Where. Is. She?"

Happiness giggled and pointed over at Courage. "Courage hung her by her ankles from the Great Tree."

And from there, chaos ensued.

Courage tried to lunge at Happiness, calling her a "no good rat faced chicken," only to be held back by Wisdom. In response, Happiness put her thumbs in her ears and stuck her tongue out, wiggling her fingers comically. Faced with the threat of physical confrontation, Timid sunk so low to the ground that she nearly became invisible while Kindness instructed Courage to "settle down before she hurt someone's feelings." Fear tucked herself away underneath Kindness' cloak. Laziness continued to sleep through it all. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and wondered if it was possible for one to commit suicide in one's own mind.

"ENOUGH!" The squabbling of voices died down immediately. Almost immediately. Courage shot Happiness one last dark look and muttered, "traitor" underneath her breath.

For the sake of her sanity, Raven chose to ignore it. She locked eyes with her courageous counterpart and for a moment, it seemed as if the emotion was smaller than usual. Raven rubbed at her eyes and the sensation passed.

"Courage, go get Anger. And I hope to Azar that whatever you used to bind her is stronger than the stuff you used last time."

Courage flashed a cocky grin and disappeared.

"Quite an intriguing series of events, don't you think?"

Turning slightly turn her right, Raven raised an eyebrow at Wisdom. "What do you mean? This happens _every_ time I come here. I need to meditate _after_ mediating with you guys."

Wisdom pushed at her glasses again. "I was referring to the events outside of your mind. The assassin, the explosion, the massive influx of energy that passed through you."

"The making out with Robin!" Happiness piped in.

Raven flushed and glared at the pink cloaked-emotion. Then her eyes whipped back to Wisdom. "What do you mean, 'massive influx of energy?'"

Wisdom lifted her shoulders slightly and spread her hands out. "I can't explain it really. But when the assassin hit you, we were all scattered. And separated, we couldn't feed you enough energy to keep the shield up. But then, there was this wave . . . this stream of energy." The emotion shook her head, obviously baffled. "It came out of nowhere. I can't explain it."

"Sex is powerful magic."

They all turned their heads at the same time to see that Courage had returned, a dark scowl on her face. Behind her, with her wrists bound in front of her and her face hidden behind the cowl of her red cloak, was Anger.

Raven felt her blush deepen. "Nobody had sex," she snapped at the emotion.

"Yeah, 'cause the building fell down too quickly," she heard Happiness mumble.

Feeling her fingers begin to clench, Raven struggled to stay calm. Focused. She took a deep, steadying breath. "Explain yourself, Anger."

Anger shrugged, eyes burning within the shadows of her hood. "Human beings derive their emotions from experience. The most emotional experience one human can engage in is intimacy with another."

Raven glanced over at Wisdom, who merely held up her hands again. "I don't know. The priests didn't really go over intimacy with us. Except to say that we should avoid it."

"Terrific," Raven muttered, rubbing at her temple. Confusion swirled inside of her, coupled with another feeling she did not wholly recognize. But with four words Anger has successfully forced her to remember the incident with Robin. Clearly. She could remember the strength of his fingers around her arm, the heat of his breath, the firmness of his lips—she clamped down on the thoughts before they could spin out of control. Yes, she thought she could see why the priests had wanted her to avoid physical contact with others. Still, there were other questions to be answered.

"I think we'll be taking a trip to Azarath," she said, more to herself than to her emotions. She turned her attention back to them and found them all watching her with odd expressions on their identical faces. Their thoughts rang in her head as if they were her own. She hunched her shoulders slightly.

"Look, humans are emotional creatures. It's perfectly natural that in the event of a near-death experience that Robin would look for some kind of . . . . physical reassurance," she fumbled. Happiness grinned and nudged Fear with her elbow, causing the other emotion's eyes to bulge and her body to shrink.

"Yeah, but we never expected him to look for 'physical reassurance' with us."

Raven tried to wave that away, along with the feelings of embarrassment that were washing over her. "I'm sure it was just a one-time fluke . . . thing," she finished, glaring slightly at Fear, who shrunk even lower.

Setting her fists on her hips, Courage leaned forward, smirking. "Come on, you enjoyed it."

Straightening self-conscious, Raven lifted her chin loftily. "It was a pleasant enough experience. But, it's not like it was on my list of things to do," she answered, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. As if the red streaked black sky were a giant chalkboard, a long list appeared within it. At the very top, in enormous capital letters, was "Discover A Way To Prevent The Prophecy." Directly below it, in equally large type, was "Discover A Way To Destroy Trigon." A little further down the list was "Find A Way To Keep Beast Boy Out Of My Room." And at the very bottom, scrawled out in small print, was "Have Near-Death Make-Out With Robin." Next to it was a large checkmark.

Her eyes bulged.

"WHO PUT THAT THERE?"

"Who do you think?" Courage quipped. Together, they turned and stared at Happiness, who waved enthusiastically. Raven took one step towards the emotion, all sorts of dark, murdersome thoughts whipping around in her brain. She paused when Kindness stepped smoothly in front of her.

"Why don't we work on healing ourselves?"

000000000000000000000000

The med-lab of Titans Tower was dark, save for the small, occasional blinking lights of many machines that hummed and beeped quietly. Along one wall of the room was a huge screen, currently filled with shifting numbers and strange color coded shapes that measured breathing, heart rate, and brain waves. They flashed by, unnoticed by the room's two occupants. One lay stretched out on a hospital bed, body motionless beneath the crisp white linen sheets. The other sat in a chair beside the bed, shoulders hunched slightly and eyes focused on the view through large plate windows. Nearly his entire right side was covered in a mixture of bandages and plaster, but if he was in pain, it didn't show on his face.

The door to the lab swished open.

"Robin?"

When she received no answer, Starfire moved further into the room, her hands clasped against her chest. Her brilliant green eyes scanned the small space, sliding past the wall screen and hesitating slightly on the unconscious body before moving past to the figure in the chair. Slowly she moved forward until she was standing behind him. Looking down, she could see a small laptop resting on his lap, its screen filled with information. He didn't stir, making her wonder if he had even heard her approach.

"Robin?" she repeated softly, placing her hand lightly on his uninjured shoulder.

Blinking as if waking from a dream, Robin turned his head towards the alien princess, a bit startled to see her standing there. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts that he _hadn't_ heard her. "Yes, Starfire?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes slightly.

"Cyborg wished me to convey to you that the villain we apprehended has not yet awoken, but his condition has improved. He is 'out of the forest' now."

Robin smiled. "I think you mean, 'out of the woods.' That's good news. When he wakes up we can finally figure out who he's been working for." As it turned out, the villain had detonated his explosives too early and had gotten caught in the blast himself. Cyborg and Beast Boy had found him under a massive pile of debris just outside the building. He had been in pretty bad shape, a number of broken bones, head trauma. But they had managed to get him back to the tower and Cyborg had been monitoring him ever since. It left something of a bad taste in Robin's mouth. Here he was trying to save someone who had been willing to kill innocent people. But he had information. Useful information. After he gave it up, Robin didn't care what happened to him.

He ran a hand through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. "You didn't have to come all the way down here. Cyborg could've given this to me over the communicator."

Starfire nodded and blushed slightly. "Yes. But I confess, I am most anxious about Raven's condition. I was hoping that perhaps she had awoken."

Shaking his head, Robin shifted his gaze to Raven. There was a large, ugly bruise on the right side of her temple when the villain had clocked her with his gun. And even though she was unconscious, her face still seemed to be drawn down into a scowl, as if she were being tormented from within. Briefly he wondered if there was ever a time when the dark empath truly felt at peace.

"She's still the same. I wouldn't worry too much Star. Raven's strong. She'll be alright." As he spoke, Robin wasn't sure who he was trying to reassure more; Starfire or himself.

She nodded again. "I know. Still, I do worry." Her voice changed slightly and he waited, sensing that she had something more to say. Removing her hand from his shoulder, Starfire moved to stand beside the bed. Very lightly, she reached out and brushed a lock of purple hair back from Raven's face, before tucking the sheets a bit more tightly around her friend.

"I know that Raven and myself seem most different." She smiled slightly. "Perhaps no one thinks this more than Raven herself. But I have come to realize that she and I are not so unalike. I know what it is like to be used as a piece in someone else's game. To be forced to do something against your will." Her fingers clenched into fists and her jaw rippled. Just as quickly, the moment passed. "But I believe what Raven truly fears the most is not Trigon or the Prophecy, but the strength of her own powers. I understand that as well. The more power that one possesses, the more afraid one becomes of that power spiraling out of control. Raven fears her emotions because she has always denied them. And one cannot control what one does not believe to exist."

"It's hard for some people to deal with their feelings. Not everyone is like you Star."

"Yes, that is true. Yet still, I wish often for her happiness." Her smile widened as she shifted her gaze to his. "You humans are strange. So often you hide what you feel, what you think. I wonder why?" She gave Raven's arm a pat and turned towards the door. "You will call me if there is any change?"

Robin nodded, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to sort through everything she had said. And the way she had looked at him, as if she knew something that he did not. _What did she mean by 'you hide what you feel, what you think?' Did she mean I'm hiding something?_

"Starfire, what—"

But the door had already closed behind her.

He scowled darkly. _I don't hide my feelings. I just don't go shouting them out on the rooftop. And just which feelings were she talking about?_

"She's not entirely correct, you know."

For a moment, Robin was afraid he had been talking out loud to himself. It had happened on occasion. But the voice was too feminine to be his own. His eyes darted over and he saw that it was Raven who had spoken. She was sitting up in the bed, one hand pressed against her temple where the bruise had already faded away. Robin wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, so he remained silent.

"I don't deny my emotions. I've just never found a way to express them without unleashing my powers as well."

Their eyes met and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Robin felt an itch between his shoulder blades and just barely resisted squirming in order to scratch it. Raven had the distinct echo of "Robin and Raven, sittin' in a tree" ringing through her head and struggled to keep both the mortification and the murder off of her face.

Happiness was overrated anyway.

"So . ." they both started at the same time. Robin gave a little cough.

"Uh . . . you go first."

"Did he get away?"

He shook his head, grateful for the question. "No. Looks like he got caught in his own blast. Cyborg's watching over him down in the holding lab. And it turns out that 'he' is an assassin-for-hire who goes by the name of Ravager. He's been linked to a number of high profile killings. Rumor has it he only works on single targets and carries a pretty hefty price tag."

"How much?"

"Five hundred thousand."

One slim eyebrow shot up. "Nice work if you can get it," she deadpanned. Her hand dropped from her temple to her chin. "Any idea as to who hired him this time?"

He shook his head again. "No. He hasn't been conscious enough to answer questions yet."

"Pity."

The silence returned abruptly. Tearing his gaze from hers, he stared down at his cast, absently picking at the plaster. For her part, Raven avoided his corner of the room completely, choosing instead to stare at the door as if she could will one of the other Titans to walk through it. Azar, even _Beast Boy_ would be a welcome sight. She wrinkled her nose. Maybe that was going too far. But definitely Cyborg. Or Starfire. Anything to diffuse the tension that had settled in. She took a deep calming breath and told herself she was being foolish. This was Robin. Her leader. Her friend. No more, no less.

She cleared her throat quietly. "What were you going to say?"

His eyes shot up, hidden as always by the simple mask. Honestly, he didn't have any idea of what he had been about to say. Probably something stupid like, "how ya doin'?" He blew out a long breath and looked at her again. It was just Raven. The same Raven who daily insulted him on his choice of uniform colors. The same Raven that he often went to for advice. The same Raven whose lips had felt so soft against—

Whoa. Back up there. Robin shook his head slightly. He knew what he was going to say.

"I think we should . . . . talk about what happened," he stated firmly.

He was unprepared for her reaction. He had expected her to look at him disdainfully and say something along the lines of, "if you ever try something like that again I'll roast you over an open fire like a marshmallow." Instead, her cheeks flushed red and she averted her eyes.

"I don't," she replied quietly. "I think we should forget it ever happened."

Frowning, Robin set his laptop aside and pulled his chair closer to the bed, trying in vain to catch her gaze. She stubbornly refused to look at him. "Raven, call me old fashion, but you really can't forget something like that."

Suddenly she turned to him, her eyes large and filled with a bottomless sadness that he had only caught glimpses of before. "You'd be surprised Robin, at what you can forget. Or choose not to remember."

Looking up at her, Robin felt his chest tighten and got up from his chair. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him, but knew the gesture wouldn't be appreciated. So instead he sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to touch her. She didn't acknowledge his presence.

"If that's what you want, Raven, then we'll forget it. Though, I don't know why you'd want to forget something as magical as a kiss from yours truly," he teased, his eyes trained on her face. She glanced at him and he thought he saw a hint of a smile touch her lips before being tucked away.

"It's amazing how you got your head to fit through the doorway."

"It comes off."

"That doesn't surprise me."

He laughed and held out a hand. "Friends?"

She hesitated for a moment, trying to see behind the mask, behind the smile. But he just looked like Robin. Spiky haired, occasionally aggravating Robin. Smiling slightly, Raven put her hand in his.

"Friends."

Nodding, he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze and for a moment, everything was back to normal.

But for some strange, inexplicable reason, it couldn't stay that way.

Robin opened his mouth to say something else, just as the moon came out from behind the clouds, spilling a stream of soft light into the room. The words died in his throat and he could only stare at her. In the moonlight her pale skin was as flawless as a pearl and her violet eyes were dark and deep. He felt like he was drowning in them. Her palm was warm and soft against his, reminding him of what her lip would feel like. Though he heard his mind telling him to pull back, that they were only friends, he found himself leaning forward, as if drawn in by some unseen force. He was close enough to see the same desire swim in her gaze, mixed with fear and another emotion he couldn't identify. Almost on its own accord, his hand traveled slowly up her arm, sliding over the skin, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. It slipped over her shoulder and his fingers danced up the side of her neck to cup her cheek.

Raven could feel it happening again; the heat gathering in her belly, the shivers whispering along her skin. His fingers burned her cheek, but not in a painful way. She could feel him tugging her forward and she found herself complying. The nearness of him made her head spin and when his lips brushed hers lightly, she felt the energy crackle through her body like electricity.

And she panicked.

"NO!" she shouted, pushing out with both her hands and her mind.

Robin felt himself shoved backwards, even though her hands had never come in contact with him. Still, he was thrown across the room. He twisted in the air, his movements made awkward by the cumbersome cast, but he managed to land on his feet. Their eyes met across the room and he saw that the desire in hers was gone. There was only fear in them now.

Then the shutter came down over her face as she slammed her control into place. They stared at each other, neither having any idea what to say.

BEEP. BEEP.

The shrill sound had Robin glancing down at his belt. The light on his communicator flashed. His hand shaking slightly, he unclipped it and flipped it open. Cyborg's face filled the tiny screen. "Robin here."

"Our 'guest' just woke up."

"Can he answer questions?"

"Yeah. Whether or not he will, is another story."

"He will," Robin responded grimly. "I'm on my way. Robin out." He snapped the communicator closed and turned toward the door. Only to find Raven standing in front of it. She had pulled her cloak on and drawn the hood up.

"You should be in bed," he stated, wincing at the clip in his voice. God, he sounded just like Batman.

"I'm in better condition than you are," she retorted, reaching out to grab his arm. He glanced at the cast that went from his shoulder to his wrist.

"It's worse than it looks. You healed it mostly. Just a couple of fractures."

Raven stopped in mid-chant, the dark energy buzzing about her for a moment before dissipating. "What? When did I heal you?"

"Back when the building was falling down."

She shook her head and her grip loosened. "That's impossible," she said flatly.

He felt his temper snap. "Well, I sure as hell didn't do it."

She glared at him from the shadows of her cowl. Her fingers tightened again and her darkness swept down, drawing him in. It felt as if he were falling, down into a bottomless pit, away from light and hope. Into blackness so thick it permeated his skin, filled his lungs, and surrounded his soul.

And then, just as abruptly, it disappeared and he found himself in the holding's medical lab, Raven standing beside him. She shot him a look that seemed to say, _That is what I live with._ Robin rubbed at the back of his neck and suddenly felt exhausted. His arm began to throb painfully. For one second he wanted to throw his hands up in the air, say _fuck it_, and walk out.

Of course, he couldn't do that. The feeling passed and he turned his attention to the figure lying on the hospital bed. Every inch of his body was covered; in bandages, in sheets. His face was the only thing uncovered. It was bruised and battered but the features were still clear. A strong, square jaw, dusted with short brown stubble. A long nose. Thick eyebrows. His eyes were closed. Robin wondered if he bore any resemblance to Slade. Was this how the mastermind looked beneath his mask?

Cyborg clomped over, jerking his thumb at the bed. "Don't let him fool you. He's definitely awake."

At the sound of his voice, the Ravager's eyes opened and Robin saw that they were the same shade of brown as his hair. There was an odd mixture of pain and amusement in them. Instantly irritated, Robin stalked up to the bed.

"Who are you working for?" he demanded.

The assassin's lips twitched ever so slightly. ". . . . to hell," he slurred.

In response, Robin reached out and grabbed a handful of the man's hair, tugging it upward. Ravager gave a gasp of pain. His eyes narrowed to thin slits, Robin leaned closer, his voice a deadly whisper.

"Let me make this clear to you. You either tell me who hired you or the pain you're in now will be paltry compared to what I'll do to you."

The assassin's eyes widened. He wanted to laugh at this masked kid who was threatening him. Couldn't be more than seventeen. But he didn't laugh. He couldn't drum up the nerve to call his bluff. Ravager swallowed, licked his dry lips, and spoke the name in a faltering whisper.

Robin felt the blood drain from his face.

". . . .man."

000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "Bonding Time With Anger And Courage."

Courage: "Stupid, idiot, dumb-ass, candy-coated, Barbie wannabe—"

Anger: "So. Returned to the scene of the crime I see."

Courage: "All because Happiness had to open her huge, annoying, stupid, yapping—"

Anger: "Can you say _anything_ without using three or more adjectives?"

Courage: "I'm sorry. Did you want me to take you down from there or did you want to spend another five days playing the Hanged Man?"

Anger: "Well, if you don't let me down, I'll tear your eyes out and eat them with whip cream, cherries, and some chocolate covered nuts."

Courage: "How are you going to do that if I don't let you down?"

Anger: "I'll get Happiness to let me down."

Courage: "And how will you manage that? Happiness won't go near you. She's dumb, but not _that _dumb."

Anger: "I have candy."

Courage: "Fuck."

00000000000000000000000

Author's Note:

Alright, now is THAT a cliffhanger or what? I'm even excited and I know what's going on. I've got some cool surprises in store. At least, I hope they're cool. And surprises. I also posted a link to another picture of Robin / Raven that I badgered a good friend of mine into doing. So check it out! I mean, that is, if you want to. No obligation or anything. Oh, and about the poem. I was reading Lord of the Rings again and I was inspired.

_Crzy Grl_: Here we are. New chapter. Now you can go back to school with a clear conscience.

_sbu-liz_: Well, I'm glad you like the story and thanks for deciding to review! Robin is a bit tricky to write because he's the most driven of the group but also the most hopeful.

_Nameless Child_: Thanks a lot! That's nice of you to say. Personally, I love writing the Random Titans Theater.

_JPElles_: Thank you. Glad it doesn't seem too rush. It's always hard not too skip ahead to the more interesting bits. The end is going to be pretty different from the season finale. Though I thought the season finale was awesome. Kid Raven? The cutest thing I have ever seen.

_Angel of Azarath_: thanks!

_theShapeOfLight_: hey, thanks for all the reviews! reviews never have to be long to be ego strokers. I appreciate it!

_Bumblebee-Queen_: It was a little rough waiting but I didn't want everything to seem like it was happening at once. I'm glad the dialogue is working. I love writing dialogue, especially the fast paced kind. I actually am going to be dealing with Starfire's feelings but in a different way. One that I hope is interesting and clever and not at all confusing.

_xdire.vixenx_: glad you liked it. please don't die. at least not on the carpet.

_morgannia_: thanks! it's tricky being original. I'm glad the story seems fresh to you.

_Lost1n7heDark_: okay. just checking. thanks a lot!

_watergoddess08_: yeah, Robin's seriously living up the title of Boy Blunder, huh? Hope this chapter answered your questions. If not, feel free to ask me more. glad you're liking the story!

_Chica De Los Ojos Café_: It was in this old copy of The New Teen Titans I think. It was awesome. Raven was explaining her past and everything. Turns out Wally wasn't really in love with her. She had manipulated his emotions in order to get him to stay with the Titans and help her out. Talk about bad timing on Robin's part, right? Thanks!

_Fortex_: Good catch! I hear what you're saying and I agree that if Robin was second best to everybody in everything it would kinda be like "what's the point of having him?" But I also think what's great about Robin is that while he often underestimates his opponents, or overestimates his own abilities, he never does it twice with the same person. I think Raven would be hard pressed to take him again, which is probably why she declined his second challenge. I'm glad you're digging the dynamics of the story though!

_Cherry Jade_: thanks! hope this chapter lived up to expectations!

_YinMiltato_: Me? The first? That's awesome! I'm glad you felt I warranted it. And I'm doubly glad you like the story.

_2wolfgirl5_: hey, thanks! it sounds like a perfect review to me. appreciate it.

_raggedywings_: thanks!

_animefreak404112_: Being called unique is the best of compliments. Thanks!

_greygin_: I'm glad you found me. Thanks a lot! glad you like it.

_Harpiebird_: thanks! Me too.

_autumn in bloom_: thanks a lot! I'm glad you like the theater at the end. I was worried in the beginning that people would think it annoying but it seems like everyone doesn't mind it too much.

_ray1_: thanks. hope Robin's words with Ravager were choice enough.

_mysti-eyed_: thanks. I'm keeping who he's working with a closely guarded secret. Though you might have some guesses now. Oooo, it's gonna be good.

_They Call Me Sweetsnow_: Yeah, you just can't trust a guy who talks to fish. thanks a lot!

_Darkofthenight_: thanks!

_sailorgirl16_: thanks! I mentioned it in the author notes, but Wally is Wally West, the first Kid Flash, who was the sidekick of the Flash.


	8. Lingering Doubts

The room was silent. For half a second, even the machines that covered the walls and fed life into the broken body of the assassin paused their beeping and humming. The air, filled with the sharp smell of medicine, thickened until it pressed against skin like insistent fingers.

And then, just as quickly, they resumed their quiet symphony. But the tension remained.

Robin's jaw clenched and the hand gripping the Ravager's hair curled tighter. The older man winced at the pain, small compared to the others than ran through his battered body but somehow impossible to ignore.

"Lie to me again, and I won't care what you know. I can find out just as much from your corpse as I can from you."

Across the room Cyborg shifted uncomfortably, partly from the assassin's confession, partly from the dark tone in his leader's voice. He had never heard Robin speak like that before, openly threatening to bring death. Not even to Slade. And as for the Ravager's employer . . . . Cyborg's mind was still reeling. How? When? Why? What did it mean? What _would_ it mean for the Titans? Some part of him was certain it was a lie. Another part felt stung. Let down. As if the cornerstone of his belief in justice had been blasted away. It just wasn't possible. The man was a hero. One of the good guys. _Say it's a lie._

The Ravager gasped out laugh, pain exploding through him. It felt like his limbs were slowly being torn off, snapped in half like wishbones. Part of him wanted to close his eyes and fall into a sleep he would never wake from. The other part of him was delighted in the torment he was so obviously bringing to his captor.

". . . not lying," he breathed, his vision clouding. "Came to . . . see me. I was . . . surprised and . . . Offered me . . . millionaire . . . money . . . I asked why. . . Said it would . . . save the world."

"So you're a hero now. Right?" Raven's voice was flat. The Ravager chuckled again and offered her a smile that served better as a grimace.

"Can't spend money . . . with no world . . . to sp . . spend it in." He lifted his bruised face toward Robin, his brown eyes barely seeing the young man through the darkness that was threatening to spill over his mind. "What's . . . matter, little bird? All men fall. Some . . . some just further . . . than others."

"LIAR!" Robin snarled slamming the assassin's head down on the bed and pulling his fist back to strike. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that horrific smile off of the criminal's face and purge his sickening lies from the air.

But before he could launch forward, a hand clamped down on his arm. His head whipped around and he saw Cyborg's grim face, his mouth set in a thin line.

"That's enough, Robin."

His low voice cut through the rage that had flooded Robin's mind, replacing it with an uneasy sense of shame. He pulled his arm out of his friend's grasp and turned away from the bed.

"He's not going to give us anything useful. Call the precinct and have them send a transport," he said shortly, struggling to keep his voice steady. To keep himself steady. He wouldn't believe it. Would _not_. It couldn't be true.

And yet, there was a nagging little voice in the back of his mind that said, _it could be true._ As it turned out, that voice had a name.

"He isn't lying."

Robin shifted his gaze to Raven, his fingers curling into fists. His entire body screamed at him to deny it. How could she be so sure? She didn't know him. Didn't know that it was impossible for the man to have had anything to do with it.

Then he looked past the shadows of her hood and met her eyes.

It was the confusion, the disbelief, and the _fear_ inside of them that blew through him. His head began to spin and it felt as if the floor were dropping out from underneath him. Again he felt a hand on his arm, steadying him. But this time when he looked up, it was Raven's face he saw. And he was close enough now to see the anger that was also present in her purple irises. The hurt. The accusation.

Robin closed his eyes against it and pulled away, unable to figure out if she was blaming him or if he was blaming himself. He felt her stiffen beside him before moving away. A moment later there was the quiet hiss of the infirmary door sliding open, and then closed.

Cyborg watched his leader quietly, searching for some clue as to what was going through his head. Sometimes Robin could be nearly as skilled as Raven at hiding his true feelings.

"Are you alright, Robin?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. He shot a glance over at the bed but the Ravager's eyes were closed. Still, he lowered his voice as he added, "This is getting pretty heavy."

_Heavy isn't the word for it_, Robin thought as he dragged a hand through his hair. His mind felt like a mirror that had been struck with a hammer and thousands of tiny questions were raining down. And he had answers for none of them. He didn't even know where to start.

"Why?" he heard himself ask. He turned to Cyborg, his arms folded across his chest, his voice unsure for the first time since Cyborg had known him. "Why would he do it?"

Cyborg lifted his massive shoulders. "I don't know. But knowing him, he must have had some reason for it. And a good one if he was willing to take it this far."

"But that's just it!" Robin exploded, spinning around, feeling the frustration build in him again. "There _is_ no reason good enough!"

Lifting his hands in a gesture of peace, Cyborg took a step backwards. "I don't know anymore than you do." He turned his head towards the door that Raven had swept through. "She seemed pretty upset. You gonna go talk to her?"

Robin shook his head slowly, feeling a new kind of sickness creep into his stomach and tighten his chest.

"Why not?"

"Because you're right. There must have been a reason."

0000000000000000000000

Raven stood on the edge of the roof, as still and silent as a statue, her body angled towards the sun as if she were challenging it. Demanding that it burn away the darkness that seemed destined to forever be a part of her. Hey eyes stared out over the water, stung by the glare, though she saw and felt nothing. The rays of light were hot as they fell over her pale skin but inside she was freezing. As cold and empty as space. Her fingers inched up to her throat and dragged the corners of her cloak closer together.

But the cloth, soft and familiar, did nothing to warm the chill.

She should have expected it. Should have expected betrayal. Oh, he would not see it as betrayal. He would see it as sacrificing one for the good of the many. When faced with a choice between two wrongs, one must take the lesser of two evils.

Azar knew there was more evil in her than in a simple assassin.

There was a sharp pain in her chest, as if someone had taken hold of her heart and was viciously digging their nails into the muscle. No. How could she have? How _could_ she have expected betrayal from him, from _him_? He with all his morals, with his strong lines between right and wrong. Death was not an option, even when there was no other option.

Not for a human anyway.

The nails dug deeper.

But for a demon? Perhaps death was the only option.

She chuckled humorlessly to herself, her finger rubbing the skin over her heart, as if she could smooth away the pain. If her death was all it would take to prevent the Prophecy from coming to fruition, she would have done the deed herself years earlier. Jumped from a high tower. Plunged a dagger into her chest. Locked herself in her mind until she wasted away. Azar knows it would have been a more pleasant experience than living knowing there was a beast growing inside of her, one that would one day consume her and all those things she held dear. But he couldn't possibly comprehend that.

For evil did not make sacrifices.

That is where Beast Boy found her, standing on the edge, her back to him. Standing in the doorway of the roof's stairway, he scratched the back of his neck, feeling woefully inadequate in his prospective role. What was he doing there anyway? Why couldn't have Cyborg or Starfire gone up there? Or Robin? Raven respected their leader (at least, Beast Boy _thought_ she respected him) and had certainly never threatened to send _him_ to another dimension. And Robin was good at this kind of . . . . talking . . . reassuring . . . thing. What could he possibly do to comfort the young woman? Tell one of his lame-ass jokes? Not that he thought they were lame or anything but he got the distinct feeling _she_ thought they were. Probably because she had told him so. On numerous occasions.

_So what? So you're just going to give up on her? Because she doesn't laugh at your jokes? Some friend you are._

Beast Boy shuffled his feet and ran a hand through his hair. _No. But . . . I don't know what to say to her._

_ So don't say anything. She hates it when you talk anyway._ _Well, hate's probably a strong word but you gotta admit, sometimes you're pretty annoying. Like the time you—_

_ Alright I get the point, _he told his brain irritably. Shaking his head, he started towards Raven, twiddling his fingers nervously by his side. He half expected her to turn around, her eyes glowing that freaky red, and blast him off of the roof. He kept the image of a seagull in the forefront of his mind just in case. But he managed to reach her side without incident. Looking up at her face, he wondered if she even knew he was there.

He wondered if she knew she was crying.

Taking his brain's advice, he stepped up beside her and stared out over the water. Honestly he couldn't for the life of him figure out why she was always up there. Sure the water was nice and all but after awhile it got to be so . . . . boring. And so plain. It was just water, stretching out forever in a bunch of directions, maybe occasionally broken up by a couple of boats or the stream from some breaching whale. But otherwise, it was kinda like looking at glass. Living at Titans Tower was a pretty sweet deal and all, what with the GameStation and all the other techno-goodies that Cyborg whipped up, but sometimes, only occasionally, he missed the jungle. The oppressive heat, the thick canopy of trees that seemed to crowd down around you, the chattering calls of hundreds of different animals all within ten feet of you. The laughter of his parents.

In his very best dreams, Beast Boy returned to the jungle.

He glanced over at Raven, noting the blank expression she always wore. Really, if it weren't for the tears, and the heads-up from Cyborg, he might never have guessed that anything was wrong. But something very obviously was wrong. His throat began to itch.

"Uh . . . look, Raven," he began, swallowing. She gave no sign that she heard him. Maybe she was meditating. Maybe he should just leave her alone. _Too late now, chicken._ He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Raven. I know you probably want to be alone and all and that's cool, but I wanted to make sure you were okay. It's pretty harsh news, what that guy said, if its true, which I guess you think it is, and Robin too. I know you probably feel angry, or hurt, or sad, or some major combination of all three but I wanted you to know . . . ." he trailed off at the sound of Raven's laughter. Dark and toneless.

"Feel?" she asked, her eyes still staring into the sun. "Mustn't feel. Too dangerous. I don't _feel_ anything. Not anger. Not pain. Not sadness. Nothing."

Beast Boy watched the tears run down her cheek as she spoke, traveling down her chin to where it leapt from her skin. He followed it down until it landed with a silent sploosh on the concrete edge. Then, gathering all of his courage, he raised his eyes back to her face.

"Liar."

He said it quietly but she started as if he had spoken through a megaphone. Her head turned to him and for the first time he saw the pain that swam in her eyes, endless and fresh, constantly renewing like a wound that heals only to split open again. For the second time he found himself wishing that Robin was there. That anyone other than himself was there to see that pain. To share it.

But there was no one else.

He steeled himself against that gaze, against the hurt that seemed to radiate from her. "You're a liar Raven. You feel more than any of us. You keep it all inside but you can't hide it. Not from us. Not from your friends. If you didn't feel anything you wouldn't care about the stupid Prophecy. You wouldn't care about the world being destroyed. You wouldn't be angry that someone you trusted, someone we all trusted, had sent someone to kill you. You wouldn't be hurt that someone believed you weren't good enough to let live. You wouldn't be sad because it all seems hopeless."

With a hand that trembled slightly, he reached up and gently wiped the tears from her face while she stared at him mutely. "You have to trust us Raven. Whatever happens, we'll find a way to make it right. You're a Titan. Nothing will ever change that."

Her eyes flashed for a moment and Beast Boy wondered if maybe he should have listened to himself and kept his fat trap shut.

Then, with a small cry, she threw her arms around him.

Stunned, he stared down at her, shoulders shaking as she sobbed quietly against his chest. Slowly his arms lifted and wrapped around her, the fingers of his left hand stroking her hair softly. He eyed the tendrils of darkness that seeped out of her warily but instead of causing the destruction he expected, they seemed to fade into the air, born away by the breeze.

"Shhhhhh," he whispered as he felt her tears wet the front of his uniform. At the murmur, she shuddered lightly and calmed. He felt her lips move and his sharp ears just barely caught the words she spoken.

"Why am I the way I am?"

His mind sent him spiraling back into the past, into a dark cave, where he had held another through a storm of tears. His chest burned. She had asked him the very same question, in the same broken voice. He swallowed and it felt like he was swallowing glass. His answer now felt just as weak and hollow as it had then.

"Because we are who we are."

000000000000000000000

The common room of Titans was traditionally a hub of activity and noise. A space where meals were eaten, movies watched and video game villains were thrashed. It was a room built for entertainment, where five superheroes could try their hands at being teenagers. Loud, boisterous, occasionally destructive teenagers.

But now it was silent and empty, even after the Titans filled it with their bodies.

Starfire came in from the left, having returned to the med-lab and found it empty.

Beast Boy and Raven entered from the right, his arm resting lightly around her waist and her face hidden safely within the shadows of her cowl.

And finally, Robin and Cyborg stepped through the main entrance, the Boy Wonder first, the machine-man second. Robin's masked eyes scanned the room, ending on Raven. He stiffened involuntarily at the sight and found himself wondering the depth of the secrets she kept from them.

For Raven, control had returned, along with the first two emotions she had ever learned; hate and anger. They whispered seductively to her from the recesses of her mind, testing the icy calm she kept herself in. She ignored them. For now.

Beside her, Beast Boy shifted uncomfortably. Some part of him could feel the rage swirling inside of her. And it served to swell the beast inside of him as well.

Cyborg stared at the back of Robin's head, torn between trusting in his leader and protecting his friends. Because he wasn't entirely sure that Robin was in the right state of mind to lead anyone anywhere.

And Starfire watched over them all. She understood now that Raven's inability to express her emotions was not what made her different from the others. It was what made her the same as them. The young alien could clearly see the anger, the hurt, and the confusion that marred each one of their faces and yet the air remained thick and silent. Did they not trust one another enough to confide those feelings? To share them? Were they so certain that no one else could possibly be feeling what they felt? She felt as if she could live a thousand years upon that planet and still not know the answers to those questions.

Robin cleared his throat and took a few steps forward until he was in the center of the room. His face was carefully blank; inside he was struggling to regain his balance. His mind lectured him on the need for focus and control. There were questions that needed to be answered, riddles that needed to be solved. He could not afford to be weak. Even if it felt like someone had just slammed a bat into his stomach.

He straightened his shoulders. "We need some answers," he started quietly, staring directly ahead. "Answers that we're not going to be able to get here. So we're going to take a short trip. All of us. Cyborg, I need you to start prepping the T-ship."

Cyborg lifted his arm and accessed the control panel built into it. "For what? Land, water, air?"

"Outer space."

"Uh, dude. Not to be Captain Obvious here, but our last couple jaunts into space haven't exactly gone so well," Beast Boy pointed out, arcing his hand through the air as if mimicking a crash landing. "Where are we going this time?"

In response, Robin moved forward until he stood in front of the giant screen that took up most of the back wall. His fingers clicked over the keys and the black screen was instantly replaced with a crystal clear picture of the earth. Several more clicks had the picture shifting; the earth sliding off to the left until only about a quarter of it could be seen. And in the center of the picture was an object that looked like a cross between a satellite and a space station. It was long and cylindrical, and at the very top, it resembled a rook.

"We're going to the Watchtower."

000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "It's Not Easy Being Beast Boy"

Beast Boy: "You have to trust us Raven. Whatever happens, we'll find a way to make it right. You're a Titan. Nothing will ever change that."

Raven: "Really? Do you mean that?"

Beast Boy: "Of course I mean it. Let me help you. What can I do to help you?"

Raven: (Stares at him thoughtfully. Sticks out a finger and black lightning jumps towards him.)

Beast Boy: (Being electrocuted) "Yeeeeeeeeeooooooooooowwww!"

(After several moments it stops, leaving his hair sticking up wildly.)

Beast Boy: (wheezing slightly.) "Did that help?"

Raven: "Not really." (Pauses. Considers.) "Let me try it again."

Beast Boy: "Uh. . ."

0000000000000000000000000000

Author's Note

For anyone who doesn't know, the Watchtower is the base of the Justice League. I'm using the one that orbits the earth as opposed to the moon base just because. I'm going to admit here that I'm not the biggest JL fan so things are probably going to get a little made up. Some people might be out of character. I'm doing some research but it's kinda tricky, especially since there have been a lot of JL's and a lot of JL members. But I'll do my best.

_Sariii_: Thank you. I actually really rated it M because I like to drop the F-bomb and sometimes I get a little carried away with it. Been trying to restrain myself. There's probably going to be some kind of intimate scenes later on. If you'd like, I'll warn you ahead of time. As for the cliffhanger . . . . maaaaybe.

_Sprox_: Glad you're enjoying it and that you think it's funny. I always laugh at my own stuff but I'm never sure if other people are laughing too.

_RavenFlyingSolo_: Thanks a lot. I'm considering writing the Courage and Anger Show. Na na na na na na na na maybe.

_RavenOfAzerath_: awww, shucks. Me? Really? Thanks!

_xdire.vixenx_: Thanks. I have noticed that Raven can sometimes be portrayed as a bit . . . loose. Demons. As for your funeral, there will totally be a 21 gun salute. Well, maybe more like 5 gun salute. And they're gonna be cap guns. But it'll smell the same. Basically.

_Accius_: Too obvious perhaps?

_miraculasacies_: Yeah, it wasn't very nice of me. But glad you liked it!

_raggedywings_: I hope it is shocking. Glad you're diggin' the story!

_Cherry Jade_: For some reason, I think Robin is so awesome when he gets all crazy and whacked out. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

_Absentia_:……whoa. After I read your review about 9 times (ok, so maybe it was 30, but who's counting?) I fell out of my chair because my head had swollen so large that I lost my balance. So. I'm guessing you don't want it to be Batman? I dunno. Frank Miller's Batman seemed awfully violent to me. Anyway, thank you so much for the awesome review. You know, I didn't originally like Starfire. And then I started reading the comics and there was this one moment that totally clinched it for me. I'm going to put it in the story later so I don't want to ruin it right now. But they did really dumb her down which is a shame, 'cause she's a really powerful character. I'm glad everyone seems in character. I'm really doing my best to stay as true as I can. And I'm glad the plot seems interesting. I'm not much of a mystery writer but I do like to try and keep people on their toes. Thank you for all the technical bits as well. Please, if you enjoy editing, feel free to point out any mistakes you find. I'm used to it. Though I do have to say that I did actually intend to use "murdersome" which, you are correct, is not a word. Yet. I kinda have this thing with it and I figure that if I just keep using it, eventually someday, it'll make it into the OED. This is the definition. "Murdersome (adj.) : having, or involving, the vague or unconscious desire to inflict mortal harm." HA! Sounds good, right? Thanks again for the awesome review and don't be so hard on yourself.

_mysti-eyed_: A lot of people have been the Ravager. We're going to find out who he said he was working for next chapter. Glad you're liking the story.

_Chica De Los Ojos Café_: Thanks a lot!

_JPElles_: I think Robin is a great detective. And his arrogance is much more of an I-can-accomplish-anything vein more than an I'm-better-than-you-are vein. I think Robin is always much more of a risk taker than Batman is, which is probably why several Robin's are dead. Thanks for the review and glad you like the story.

_Lost1n7heDark_: Maybe someday. Thanks a lot.

_Angel Caida_: Maybe. Bruce Wayne does have a lot of dough. Thanks!

_Crzy Grl_: You're welcome. And thank you. Hmmm. Might be Batman. Might not. I wonder if you guys would be seriously pissed if I whipped out someone stupid like Antman or something…..hmmmm. Probably.

_Princess Viv_: I thought it was a pretty cute moment. Thanks a lot!

_Darkofthenight_: thanks!

_Harmony8390_: Dude don't die. I can't afford another 5 cap gun salute. Thanks for reading. Glad you like the story so far.


	9. And Justice For All

There is a darkness in space. Not the kind that comes with the switching off of a lamp or the setting of the sun. It is an absence. Of sound. Of warmth. Of life. In comparison, the earth was a luminous sphere of blue that spun in that ocean of emptiness, the result of a divine hand or perhaps just excellent cosmic luck. But it was more than God or luck that kept the inhabitants of the third planet from the sun safe, shielded against the star-filled sea that stretched endlessly in all directions. And against one another.

Built by incredible minds and with money seemingly as endless as the space it drifted through, the Watchtower was more than just a space station. More than a scientific observatory. It was a place where the greatest of heroes met to keep a silent vigil over their home.

It was to there that the T-ship was headed.

In the Observation Room of the Watchtower, in front of a dozen flat screens, sat a tall man, dressed from head to foot in a red suit that hugged the muscles of his lean body. The center of his chest was decorated with a lightning bolt, once the chosen symbol of the strongest of the gods, a phenomenon that represented both speed and power. Barry Allen wore it to honor the man who had come before him. And because it looked pretty damn cool.

His feet were set up on the desk in front of him, crossed at the ankles, and at first glance, it appeared as if he wasn't paying any attention to the images that flashed across the screens. Cities. Power plants. Sections of empty space. But if once looked closely enough, he could see the man's eyes moving ever so slightly. And with further inspection, one might notice that although he never seemed to move from his seat somehow, though his hands were empty one second, the next they held a coffee mug in their grip. Then in was gone again, set inside a sink some three rooms down the hall.

Well, they didn't call him the fastest man alive for nothing.

He noticed the orange ship seconds before the computer informed him, in its eerily vacant voice, that an unidentified vehicle was approaching the station. His fingers flashed across the control panel before the computer could even begin to ask him if he wanted the ship scanned. He was looking at the ship's identification code when the headset plug into his ear crackled slightly with static and a voice came over the line.

"Watchtower, this is Titan I, requesting permission to dock."

His eyebrows quirked when he recognized the voice and he leaned forward slightly.

"Is that you Robin? Haven't heard from you in ages. What brings you to the big scrap heap in the sky? Did you bring Cyborg with you? 'Cause a few of our systems have been on the blink lately." The words came out in a slight rush, expelled in one breath with only a minimal sense of delay, as if he was consciously trying to slow himself down but couldn't quite manage.

There was a bit of rustling over the line, a few clicks, and Flash quite clearly heard Cyborg's voice say, "Let me speak with the man," before Robin answered,

"We're here on business Flash."

The short tone had Flash's eyebrows pushing up even further and he lifted his legs off the desk, setting them down on the floor. Robin was always serious, the curse of being raised by Bats, but he sounded more than serious this time. He sounded almost . . . angry.

"Alright Robin. Permission granted. Dock in bay three. Proceed into the first chamber where you and your party will be met and identified."

"Understood. And Flash? How many of the inner circle are currently on board?"

Blinking in surprise, Flash rubbed a hand along his jaw. What was going on? "You're in luck. We're running a special on the Big Five. As a bonus, we'll throw in one magician's daughter and one former sidekick. Zatanna is here and Bats and Nightwing docked earlier today," he translated.

"I need to speak with them. All of them."

Flash was silent for a long moment. Now he was certain something was going on and the unsettled feeling in his stomach told him exactly what that something was. Dammit, he had known this thing would come back and bite them in the ass.

"Copy that Robin. We'll meet you in the War Room."

Robin clicked off the communications line with the Watchtower and a moment later, Cyborg's voice came through over his headset.

"Are we really gonna do this Robin?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Robin squeezed his eyes shut behind his mask. Normally he liked the smooth leather that hid his identity from the rest of the world. It kept him separate from everyone else and it had the side benefit of looking really freaking cool. But at the moment, the leather felt rough against his skin. Rough and irritating.

"We need answers, Cyborg. This is the best place to get those answers. Besides . . . they started this."

Cyborg's sigh was audible across the line.

"Yeah, but what if it's all some kind of mistake? I mean, this is the _Justice_ League we're talking about."

"And we're still the Titans. We protect our own. Against anyone."

A blinking button on his control panel drew Robin's eye. He stared at it for a second, and then switched off the intercom for the entire ship. Then he clicked the button. Without any preamble, Raven's voice came across the direct line.

"Even if you're certain there's a reason for her death? One you might even be persuaded to agree with?"

Robin's fingers tightened on the flight controls. "I never said that," he managed evenly.

Her response was little more than a hiss. "Are you sure you didn't _think_ it?"

The line cut off with an abrupt click and Robin just barely managed to restrain from tearing off his own headset. He looked straight ahead; his jaw clenched, and watched the station as it drew nearer. It had started off small, little more than a speck in an ocean. Gradually it began to grow, until it loomed over the ship like a mountain casting its shadow over the valley below it. For a moment, Robin felt that shadow settle on his soul.

He took a long, deep breath and clicked the communications line back on.

"Watchtower, this is Titan I, approaching docking bay three."

An unfamiliar voice answered him after a moment of dead silence. "Roger that, Titan I. You are cleared to dock. Prepare to cut main engines."

"Copy that Watchtower. Engines offline."

The enormous doors to the docking bay slowly separated, spilling light from the station out into space. Floating silently along, the T-ship cruised inside. Behind it, the doors slid shut again.

"Welcome to the Watchtower, Titan I."

00000000000000000000000000

The War Room itself was not particularly inspiring. It was large and oval shaped, with round windows that looked down on the endlessly spinning Earth. In the center was a circular table made of steel, polished to a high shine, a modern ode to King Arthur's famous Round Table. Six high backed chairs were tucked around it, though there was room for many more. And though the bodies that sat in those chairs were not encased in steel armor, they were, to some degree, lords among men.

It was they who gave the room its atmosphere of awe. Five figures, each of impressive stature and with reputations that would live on long after their last deed had been done. There was the Flash, his fingers tapping restlessly against his thigh. His blue eyes darted around the room, more out of a need for movement then any sense of nervousness. Next to him sat the Green Lantern, his white gloved hands folded calmly on the table. The green ring on his finger glowed brightly, as did the trim of his uniform. His brown hair fell tousled over his forehead, lying against the single strip that covered his eyes. Beside him, her back straight and her golden cuffed wrists crossed over her chest, was Wonder Woman. Her beauty, though ethereal, did little to distract from the obvious strength of her body. Her jaw was set firmly and her brilliant blue eyes stared straight ahead, apparently looking anywhere but at the man who sat beside her. He too appeared tense and did his best to avoid accidentally catching the Amazon's gaze. His large hands lay flat on the table and his shoulders were thrown back, stretching out the diamond shaped "S" that was stitched there. His eyes seemed constantly drawn to the man on his right, as if he was unwilling to let him out of his sight. But even in the brightly lit room, the Batman seemed cloaked in shadows. Or perhaps it was merely that darkness of hi suit. His skin was pale, the little that showed, but his eyes burned a clear azure within the depths of his cowl.

Of all the heroes of Earth, they were perhaps the strongest, the smartest, and the most virtuous.

At the very end of the table, almost unnoticed, sat a woman who looked curiously out of place. She wore a white tuxedo shirt and tie, with a short black jacket. A white cape fell from her shoulders to the floor. On the table in front of her was an oversized top hat, the kind magician's use to pull rabbits out of. Her hands were laced together and she sat back in her chair, as if she was watching them all.

They were silent when the door slid open and the Titans walked in. Robin came first, a manila folder in hand. Cyborg and Beast Boy came next, the first with a grim expression on his face and a hand firmly attached to his green friend's neck. To keep him from touching anything. Starfire came after them, her eyes drawn to the windows and the space they displayed. Raven was last to enter; her gaze skimmed over the five League members and settled almost immediately on the woman at the end. Her eyes narrowed slightly when the woman raised two fingers and waved them mockingly.

The silence remained unbroken, stretching out almost painfully.

"So. Robin. Did you want to tell us what brings you and your team here today?" Superman's quiet voice seemed to boom when he finally spoke.

Robin glanced down at the folder in his hand. All the information that the Ravager had given them, as well as the background files on the Ravager himself were tucked in there. Along with carefully detailed notes on each attempt on Raven's life, typed up by his own hand. It felt heavy, as if it were made of stone instead of paper. He looked up and found himself staring across the table at Batman. His fingers curled into the folder.

But before he could open his mouth to speak, another voice cut him off.

"For Christ sakes, Clark. You know why he's here."

The Flash had leaned forward in his seat and slapped his hands down on the table. Superman met his gaze squarely, lifting one black eyebrow.

"No, I don't. That's why I'm asking him."

"It's obvious what this about," the Flash continued, his face flushing slightly. The Green Lantern laid a restraining hand on his arm and he flicked it off angrily. Superman eyed the speedster warily.

"What's the problem Barry?"

Throwing his hands up into the air, the Flash stood up and was over by the windows in an instant. "The whole thing is a problem! I didn't want any part of it then and I don't want any part of it now. It's wrong and you know it."

"We're talking about the lives of billions, Barry," the Green Lantern interjected. "Nobody made the decision lightly."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Robin threw his files down on the table. They slid across the smooth surface with a hiss and came to a stop directly in front of Batman. Silence returned.

"I came here today because there have been attempts on the life of one of my team members. The attempts were made by an assassin by the name of Wade Wilson, a.k.a. the Ravager. During his most recent attempts, which involved a hostage situation, we managed to apprehend him. We learn, from his own confession, that he was approached and hired by an individual to target Raven."

"Robin—" Superman began but the Boy Wonder cut him off.

"The individual he named was Batman." Robin stared at the Dark Knight, who sat motionless and unreadable as always. "And I want to know why." He wanted to leap across the table and shake the man. Shake him until he explained exactly why he had done what he had done. Why the man he had come to know as a father, had betrayed him. And part of him knew that it was an impossible desire. Because there could be no explanation. He had remained cold and numb the best he could the past few hours, but he could feel the pain starting to seep back in.

It took several moments before anyone spoke. And then the response was not one that Robin had expected to receive. Nor did it come from where he had expected it to come.

"Batman?" There was disbelief in the Flash's voice and in his face as he turned away from the windows. He shook his head. "Batman didn't hire the Ravager. The Last Lord of Krypton did."

Stunned, the five Titans turned as one. His hands still flat on the table, Superman had risen to his feet. The expression on his face was an odd mixture of pride, shame, and weariness.

"That's not entirely true," he began. He stood up straight and his hands went behind his back, disappearing beneath his red cape. "I tried to hire the Ravager."

"You?" Cyborg was the first Titan to find his voice. "But . . . . why?"

Superman's gaze flickered over to the Flash. "We all agreed that the rights of the many supercede the rights of the one. The threat of Trigon is a threat to the entire population of Earth. We sought to remove that threat. None of us were particularly pleased with the decision but we felt that we had no choice."

"No other choice?" Robin echoed quietly. "No other choice but to resort to murder?"

Blue eyes flashed dangerously and Superman took one step forward. Then stopped when a stream of green energy blasted him directly in the center of his chest.

Arm outstretched, Starfire had stepped protectively in front of Robin. Her eyes glowed the same brilliant color as the energy that had shot out from her hand.

"Do not move."

Superman glanced down at his chest and then raised his head again. "Don't do that again."

In response, a sphere of green pulsing energy began to glow around the young Tamaranean's hand.

"Clark, sit down. Robin, control your team." Though the orders were terse, the voice of the Green Lantern was calm and controlled. He stared at the Kryptonian until the tall man returned to his seat. Then he turned his gaze to Robin, who put a hand on Starfire's arm and pushed it back down to her side. Satisfied that some semblance of control had been established, he refolded his hands on the table.

"Your anger, though understandable, has no place here. As Clark said, he tried to hire the Ravager. He offered him a deal to eliminate Raven. The Ravager refused."

"Refused?" Robin questioned. Superman nodded curtly.

"He said he had a prior engagement."

"That still doesn't mean that Batman didn't hire him. Prior engagement? Sounds a little funny to me," Cyborg interjected.

"What was the deal that you offered him?" Robin asked suddenly, his eyes still trained on his former mentor.

"One million dollars."

Something that vaguely resembled a smile stretched across Robin's face, only it was much more predatorily. "That's quite a sum of money. I didn't realize the Daily Planet paid so well."

Batman remained silent but Robin knew he wasn't wrong.

"Why would the Ravager lie about who hired him?" Cyborg pressed.

"Because that's what criminals do." These words were the first words the woman in the tuxedo jacket spoke. She tapped her nails rhythmically on the table and gave a small, mysterious smile. "They lie, cheat, kill, and destroy. That's why they're criminals. You miss that lesson in school, kid?"

Cyborg lifted one hand and it shifted into his sonic cannon. "I can show you just what I learned."

"The Ravager wasn't lying."

Raven stepped up beside Cyborg and in a gesture that mirrored Robin's, she put a restraining hand on Cyborg's arm. The woman rolled her eyes and her smile dipped closer to a sneer.

"And we're supposed to believe you? The daughter of the very demon we're trying to prevent from coming?"

Raven ignored her and turned to the other five members. "I came to you once before for help. And I told you then, as I will tell you again, that my death will not stop Trigon from coming. It will only make the destruction of the Earth inevitable."

"I thought it already was inevitable. At least, that's what you said last time. Isn't it?"

"His coming is inevitable. As for his defeat . . . there is still a chance," she answered, not bothering to glance in the woman's direction.

"How do you know this?" Wonder Woman asked, speaking for the first time. She eyed the dark empath with an odd mixture of suspicion and curiosity. The girl spoke in the manner of prophecy and fate, terms not unfamiliar to her, but she wondered from where the information had come.

"The priests of Azarath foresaw it."

Even as Wonder Woman nodded in understanding, the other woman tipped her head back and gave a short, mocking laugh. "The priests of Azarath. How convenient. The very same people who created the monster in question speak of its destruction?"

"Zatanna." The single word was meant to bring a halt to her speech but she merely brushed it aside with a wave of her hand.

"It's hardly surprising that they would want to keep the one link their master has to this world alive."

Raven whirled around, her eyes burning within the folds of her cloak. "How dare you insinuate that my people would subject themselves to that monster!" she said through gritted teeth, feeling the anger she worked so hard to keep buried bubble to the surface.

Zatanna merely smiled. "I'm not _insinuating_ anything. I'm flat out saying they do."

With an inhuman snarl, Anger broke through and Raven leaped forward, one hand outstretched. An enormous claw of dark energy surged from out her arm and snatched Zatanna up in its grasp, holding her several feet off the ground. Raven could barely see through the rage pumping through her, but she had just enough mind to keep the claw from crushing her.

"Temper, temper little bird." Zatanna's voice was weak but still audible.

"Raven?"

The dark empath felt a hand touch her shoulder and flinched away. She turned her head and saw it was Starfire, who stared at her with concern and fear splayed across her open face. Her violet eyes shifted and she saw the other Titans looking at her the same way. Struggling, she bore down on her rage and dragged it, kicking and screaming, back into its cage. Slowly the black claw lowered Zatanna to the ground, releasing her. Then it drew back into Raven. Her eyes were closed and her lips moved slightly as she whispered the words that would bring her balance.

The others in the room could only stare at her, their minds trying to decipher how much of Zatanna's words were true and how much was just a product of the fear and uneasiness they found themselves feeling in the young girl's presence.

"I think . . . ." Superman trailed off and cleared his throat. "I think, Raven, that you had better explain everything. Maybe then we can figure out what to do."

Reaching up, Raven pulled down her hood and, without looking at anyone in particular, shook her head.

"Do what you will," she stated quietly. And then turned and left the room.

Robin watched her leave and tried to will her to look in his direction. But she stared straight ahead and did not turn back as the doors slid shut behind her. He felt a slight whoosh of movement beside him but resisted looking. Then he felt a hand on his arm.

"Robin. I would like a word with you."

He turned and stared into Batman's cowl. Part of him wanted to tear his arm away. The other part was curious as to what he had to say. In the end, he did both.

"Titans," he said, tugging his arm out of Batman's grip, "find Raven. We'll meet at the ship in half an hour. Batman." He tilted his head towards the door and without waiting for anyone's response, he walked through it.

0000000000000000000000000000

Robin had no doubts that Batman would follow him and the sudden role reversal had him repressing a cynical laugh. The Dark Knight following the Boy Wonder. There was a headline for the papers. He moved down the hall at a clipped pace, his eyes searching the walls for a room that was suitable for the encounter he was about to have. It wouldn't be the first time that they had butted heads over something but Robin got the feeling this was going to be more than their usual arguments. And he found himself eager for it to begin.

Turning abruptly to the right, he passed through a set of doors that slid open for him though he really would have preferred slamming them open. He took several steps into the room and then turned around, arms folded across his chest, just in time to watch Batman step in. The doors slid closed on his back but he moved no further forward. For a moment they only stared at each other; Batman with his calm, cold demeanor and Robin feeling as if a volcano was erupting inside of him. He squeezed his fingers into a fist and then dropped them by his sides.

"I'm only going to ask you this once. Did you hire the Ravager to assassinate Raven?"

His answer was immediate. "No, Robin. I did not."

"But you did supply the League with the money to do so." It was spoken as a statement rather than a question. Again, the response was swift.

"Yes, I did."

Though he had been expecting it, the truth still hit him like a blow. His spine stiffened and he gave a curt nod. "Then we're done here," he said, moving to brush by his former mentor. But he was stopped by a hand around his bicep; despite more than forty years the grip was still powerful.

"Think Robin. If the League didn't hire the Ravager, then that means someone else did. Someone who is still out there."

For the second time, Robin pulled his arm away. "I'm aware of that. And every second I waste here puts him further away from me. I'm not a moron."

"No, but you're acting like a child. You're angry and you can't afford to be angry. You're a leader. You need to focus."

"You could have told me!" he exploded, stepping forward until he was toe-to-toe with the Caped Crusader. "You could have talked to me about it! Dammit Bruce she's my teammate. She's my friend. And you want to wipe her out over something she has no control over!"

"There are seven billion people down there. Seven billion. Is her life more important than theirs?"

The word came to his lips but Robin managed to swallow it before it slipped out. Instead he turned away, folding his arms across his chest and trying to fight his wage through the rage and the hurt that were tugging at him like puppet strings. His eyes wandered over to the window and the glowing sphere of the Earth. In his mind he saw millions of tiny black dots, scattered across the surface like pieces on a strategy map. When at last he spoke again, his voice was subdued.

"You heard what she said. Killing her won't stop Trigon from coming."

"Are you willing to risk their lives on that information? Especially when you know that the source of that information could very well be corrupt?"

_"I am a part of him. Not just as his daughter but physically a part of him. That's how demons spawn. By passing part of their essence on. That is where my powers come from."_

"Yes. I trust her. No matter what else Raven is, she's a Titan. And she's my friend." Robin glanced over his shoulder. "You wouldn't understand that."

Batman was silent for a long moment. "You may be right, Robin," he began slowly. "But just remember; sometimes you have to watch your friends just as closely as your enemies."

There was an odd tone in the older man's voice and it made Robin pause. His mind reminded him of the long, detail files locked away in the Bat Cave's mammoth computer. And the small oddly colored alien rocks that sat deep within the vault underneath Wayne Manor. He thought of two violet orbs filled with both shame and despair. And he thought of fires that covered the world.

"I'll remember."

00000000000000000000000000000

Raven stood in the shadows of the last room anyone would ever think to look for her. Her calm had returned to her and some of her more ruffled emotions had been smoothed out. Rage still stalked about inside of her, prowling like a hungry tiger trapped in its cage. She felt it pushing against her, constantly testing her control, seeing if there was some weak chink in her armor that it could burst through.

She hoped there was not.

The doors to the now empty War Room slid open and Raven instinctively drew closer to the wall. From beneath the folds of her cloak she watched Zatanna walk in. The magician gave the room a cursory glance and upon finding it apparently empty, moved over to stand beside the window. Just looking at the woman, Raven felt her Anger begin to rise again.

She forced it back down.

"Returned to the scene of the crime?" she asked as she stepped out from the shadows. If Zatanna was surprised at her sudden appearance, she hid it very well. She turned from the window to glance over her shoulder.

"Mine or yours?" was her flippant response.

Raven moved until she was on the same side of the table as Zatanna but kept a distance of several feet between them. "I am not your enemy," she said plainly.

Zatanna eyed her carefully. "Perhaps not," she replied. "But you are evil. I can sense it. And I refuse to trust you." She rubbed her neck absently as she spoke and Raven could see a slight redness where her magic had squeezed roughly. Driven by both her conscience and a need to prove this woman wrong about herself, the dark empath stepped forward, her movements slow and non-threatening.

"Fair enough," she intoned, reaching out with one hand. Zatanna flinched away from her touch, but the healing magic worked quickly, easing what had been irritated. Her fingers rubbed her skin. The pain was gone. She met Raven's gaze squarely, something like speculation in her eyes.

"That wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't lost control," she reminded the young woman.

Raven nodded slowly. "But what is done in anger, can be undone."

They stared at each other silently for a long moment and a vague sense of understanding passed between them. The doors to the War Room slid open again and this time it was Cyborg who stepped in.

"Raven! Man, it's about time. We've been looking everywhere for you. Come on. We're leaving."

Without another word, Raven turned towards the door. Zatanna waited until she had reached it before she spoke again,

"Watch your back, witch."

Whether she said it out of concern or as a warning, Raven couldn't tell.

00000000000000000000000000000

Starfire had had every intention of looking for and finding Raven. The three remaining Titans had agreed to split up and search the station for their friend after Robin had gone off to speak with Batman. She had expressed some concern over Robin, for he had seemed most troubled when he had left, but Cyborg had merely shaken his head.

"He and Bats have a long history Star," was all he would say on the matter. That hardly served to ease her mind. After all, she had a long history with her sister, and those encounters were never pleasant. But since there was nothing she could do for him now, she did her best to push her concerns aside and focus on finding Raven. She had walked through a number of hallways and ducked into half a dozen rooms when she came to one that consisted almost entirely of windows. It offered an unparallel view of the space beyond the Earth and Starfire found herself drawn forward.

When she looked up at the night sky from out her window in Titans Tower, it was a blatant reminder that she was in a foreign place. None of the stars made the patterns she had grown accustomed to seeing on Tamaran. The Throne. The Spear. The Fist. Instead, there had been new shapes to learn. The Bear. The "large and small" Dippers.

But from that view, miles above the planet, the stars formed no patterns. She could have been anywhere in the universe. And for a moment, just a second, she was certain that if she turned to her left, she would see the bright red of Tamaran.

Still, she did not turn to look.

"Quite a view, isn't it?"

Starfire turned towards the smooth voice and saw a sight that was both familiar and unfamiliar. Leaning up against the door to the room was a tall, lithe man in a black costume. The only color came from a blue streak that traveled from the knuckles of his left hand to the knuckles of his right, dipping at his chest into a "V." He had thick ebony colored hair and pale skin. His eyes were hidden behind a simple black mask.

It was a costume she had seen once before.

One of his eyebrows arched up; confusion and shock were splayed across her face. "Sorry. Am I disturbing you?"

She shook her head, mute. Encouraged, the man stepped forward, albeit slowly. "Are you alright? You look kinda like you've seen a ghost."

Starfire wasn't altogether sure that she hadn't seen one. At least, if by ghost he meant what she thought he meant. A specter. A vision. An impossibility.

"I . . . I thought that Robin was to become Nightwing," she fumbled slightly. He gave a start when she said his name. Then, after a moment, he smiled and let out a laugh. Her confusion grew.

"Sorry," he said again, coming to stand beside her. She noticed that his movements were very graceful, like a dancers. But the breadth of his shoulders and the muscles that bunched with each step suggested a warrior. It reminded her of Robin and she had the feeling that this man could fly just as well as her friend.

"But that was really the last thing I expected you to say. And, just to clarify, Robin did become Nightwing," he continued.

Her brows dug down and she clasped her hands in front of her. "I am afraid that that does not clarify anything for me. You are not Robin." It came out as almost an accusation.

"No, but I used to be." When her confusion didn't fade, he gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "You know how Robin used to work with Batman?" He continued on without waiting for her affirmation, "Well, before he was Batman's sidekick, I was." There was a wry tone in his voice when he said the word "sidekick." "Anyway, I got older and decided to go out on my own. Thus, Nightwing was born and Jason got the yellow cape. Well," he amended slightly, "it _used _to be yellow." He flashed her another grin and held out a hand. "I'm Dick Grayson. You're Starfire right?"

Starfire nodded absently and accepted his hand, not noticing his wince when she gripped it. She understood now the tension on Robin's face when he had left the room.

"That is what they call me, yes. My name is Koriand'r."

Both his eyebrows shot up. "That's a mouthful." Scratching his chin, he attempted it. "Ko. . .Kor . . Kori . .," he paused and sent her a hopeful smile. "Kory?"

She felt an odd flutter in her stomach and her own lips curved in response. "Kory."

"So," he began, releasing her hand slowly, "I heard you blasted Superman."

Instinctively her shoulders straightened defiantly. "I thought that he would harm my friend."

He held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "I'm glad somebody did it. Clark's a good guy and all but every now and then he needs to be reminded that he's not the only superhero in the world."

Starfire opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the steady beep of her communicator. Frowning, she pulled it off her belt and flipped it open. Robin's face appeared on the screen.

"Starfire, where are you?"

She flushed guilty and turned slightly away from Nightwing. "I am . . . looking for Raven," she replied, remembering her mission at the last second.

"Cyborg's already found her. We're regrouping at the T-ship. It's time to go."

The screen went black. She tucked it back into her belt and when she glanced up, she saw Nightwing watching her curiously.

"Well, you know what they say about good things," he said, holding out his hand once more. "Nice meeting you, Kory."

"It was nice to meet you as well, former Robin."

000000000000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITAN'S THEATER PRESENTS : "Docking at the Watchtower"

Robin: "Watchtower, this is Titan I, approaching docking bay three."

Dock Attendant: "Roger that, Titan I. You are cleared to dock. Prepare to cut main engines."

Robin: "Copy that Watchtower. Engines offline."

Dock Attendant: "I said prepare to cut engines. Prepare! Turn your freakin' engines back on!"

Robin: "I can't. Once they're off, they need time to heat back up."

Dock Attendant: "Well that's just great! Way to go! You ruined the whole thing!"

Robin: "What should I do now?"

Dock Attendant: "You're gonna have to go back to Earth and start the whole thing over."

Robin: "Uh . . . excuse me?"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Author's Note

Phew. Sorry it took so long to update but this is an important chapter so I wanted to make sure I got it right. Plus I'm back at school and have some major work to get done. So, the plot thickens huh? Again, sorry for any weird Justice League misrepresentations. I kinda took what I knew about characters and added a lot of my personal ideas about them and came up with this crazy contraption. If you are at all confused, just let me know.

_serenity77_: Thanks! I love the Titans Theater too. Especially the really weird ones. They're my favorite cause I never know where they're coming from.

_LM22102_: Sweet, thanks for the props. Glad you found me and glad you dig the story.

_raggedywings_: Glad you liked it! Were you at all surprised in this chapter?

_bloodendkiss_: Thanks a lot! My wit appreciates it.

_RavenFlyingSolo_: Thank you! I'm trying my best to keep the characters . . .well, in character.

_Lost1n7heDark_: I caught it. g thanks a bunch!

_Chica__ De Los Ojos Café_: Ah, don't worry about it. As you can see, _I_ don't even know who hired Ravager. Kidding. Sorta. But glad you're liking the story!

_Absentia_: Oh ye of little faith in the Batman. He's heart broken. Really. I considered Antman only for about half a second. Less than that. I find myself getting more and more interested in that character of Beast Boy. Out of all of them, I think he's the one who has progressed the most over the course of the show and it's been a very interesting transformation. And I really like the relationship Raven and him have in the comics. They have a very brother-sister thing going which is rare, since most superheroes seem to be jumping on anyone of the opposite sex. And I really wanted to show that in this story which is why I sent him up there instead of Robin. Glad you dug the scene. I was almost teary eyed myself. Again, sorry about the wait and sorry about the shortness of the last chapter. But it was a chapter that needed to be there. Hopefully I made up for it with this one. And uh, sorry about all the new questions it raised. I'm looking forward to reading this story you speak of. I'm always in search of new authors.

_Cherry Jade_: Glad you're liking the story so far! There is definitely a big fat wedge in between Bats and Robs right now. If he had to pick, who do you think he'd choose? Batman or Raven?

_sailorgirl16_: Indeed he can be. And the crazier he is, the most interesting he gets.

_Crzy__ Grl_: Well thank you! My genius adores praise. At least it did, until Praise hit him with that stick. I definitely was kidding about the Antman. And thanks for spreading the good word!

_Baby Demon_: hey thanks! glad you thought it was funny!

_connaka_: I like Beast Boy a lot and I don't think that it's impossible for Raven and him to have a friendship while she and Robin pursue a relationship. I'm glad it's working out so far.

_xdire.vixenx_: hope this chapter lived up to the anticipation. glad you're digging it!

_Haruka__-Clone_: thanks a lot! And it was just a friendly gesture. No harm, no foul.

_Sariii_: thanks a bunch. glad you like it.


	10. The Ties That Break Us

The Watchtower's docking bay three was roughly the size of a basketball court and was empty of everything save for the Titan I. The orange ship barely took up half of the space and looked strangely out of place. Tiny and insignificant compared to the towering steel walls. Robin could relate; standing inside the Watchtower made him feel small and weak as well. Or maybe it was standing in-between the Man of Steel and the Green Lantern that made him so. He wanted very badly to straighten his shoulders back even further than their already perfect posture but knew the gesture for what it would be; a boy trying hard to be perceived as a man. Instead he folded his arms across his chest and resisted the temptation to start pacing.

Though he stood still, inside his mind was a whirl of activity. If not Batman, then who? If not the Justice League, then who? Had the Ravager been lying? Raven had said no. Robin's masked eyes flickered in the empath's direction but she had her back to him, retreating into the dark folds of her cloak. Did that mean that the Justice League was lying? He thought of the intensity in Bruce's blue eyes. Did he still trust his former mentor? _Yes_, was the answer that immediately came to mind. Despite the feelings of hurt and betrayal that were still slinking through his soul like a slow acting poison, he trusted the dark billionaire. That brought him back to the Ravager. The criminal must have been lying. But Raven has said no. Was Raven lying? Again his eyes shifted towards her. Part of him knew, was absolutely _certain_, that the answer was no. Raven was a Titan. No matter how dark or sinister or _evil_ her heritage, Raven herself was one of the good guys. But another part of him, a very small part, the same part that had looked into the eyes of Batman and doubted, couldn't help but recall the man's parting advice. _Sometimes you have to watch your friends just as closely as your enemies. _

As if she could feel the thoughts passing over her, Raven turned her head and their eyes locked. Robin was glad for the mask that covered his face because otherwise, he recognized, he would have been at a serious disadvantage in the sudden contest of wills. Her gaze was flat and unreadable; she stared at him as if she were looking through him rather than at him. He wanted to tell her that he trusted her, that no matter what anyone said, he would continue to believe in her. But he was starting to believe that the entire thing was quickly becoming about something other than trust. It was as if a line was being drawn into the sand and he was going to be forced to pick a side. The trouble was, the way things were shaping up, no matter which side he chose, he would end up losing something important.

Beside him he felt the air shift slightly; Robin turned and found himself once again face to face with the hero known as Superman. The Kryptonian's chiseled features were drawn into a stern expression, tinged with hints of both kindness and arrogance. A combination that always served to irritate the hell out of Robin and he found himself wondering if he practiced it in the mirror. He much preferred dealing with the hero's mild mannered alter ego, though even Clark Kent's quaint clumsiness had a quiet ring of conceit to it; as if he were enjoying fooling everyone around him. Robin barely resisted glaring upwards; he hated the way the man towered over him and he hated his broad shoulders and the strength that could crush coal into diamond.

The red underwear was stupid. And the red boots were just tacky.

"The Titans should keep in close contact with the League. If we're going to catch whoever hired the Ravager and stop Trigon, we're going to have to work together," Superman said.

Robin had been expecting this and logic dictated that the inclusion of the Justice League into the investigation would make things both quicker and easier. He could practically feel Raven's eyes burning into the back of his neck.

Sometimes quick and easy just weren't the words of the day.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Justice League had its chance to help. And it passed. The Titans will take care of Trigon and we'll most certainly take care of our own," was Robin's reply. Superman appeared taken back and a few feet away, Beast Boy leaned over towards Cyborg and whispered,

"Dude, what the heck is Robin doing? Is he _dissing_ the Justice League? Can you even do that?"

Cyborg thought of all the gizmos and gadgets that were housed into the Watchtower's Research Lab and all the technology that was built into the Watchtower itself. Then he sighed and kissed it all good-bye. "I have no freakin' idea what he's doing Beast Boy. He's being Robin."

"This isn't a game Robin. Or some kind of competition. There are lives at stake."

Robin narrowed his eyes. "Don't lecture me on saving lives. I'm not the one going around hiring assassins to do my dirty work."

"I'm sorry you had to find out about it like this Robin."

Robin kept his arms crossed over his chest. "No, you're sorry I found out about it at all."

"Look, I did what I had to do."

Robin stepped forward and spoke in a low voice. "You did what you wanted to do. And I'll let it go for now. But once the Titans take care of Trigon, you better watch yourself, _Clark_."

Superman leaned down until his face was inches away from the Boy Wonder's. "Are you threatening the Justice League?"

Robin shook his head and refused to be intimidated. "No. Just you."

Something dark flashed across the larger man's icy blue eyes; something that had the Green Lantern placing a hand on his shoulder, a subtle show of restraint.

"There are other matters that warrant our concern, Clark."

A ripple ran along the Man of Steel's jaw and it was quite obvious that he was just barely resisting throwing the hand aside. He stepped backwards, his spine painfully straight. And without another word he turned on his heel and stalked towards the docking bay door, his red cape swishing behind him. The door whisked open before he reached them, revealing Starfire on the other side. The two aliens stared at each with open hostility.

Their contest of wills was interrupted when the room gave a sudden, violent lurch, as if something had crashed into it. Two seconds later a harsh, shrill alarm suddenly sounded, followed immediately by a flashing red light that swept through the room. From seemingly out of thin air came a mechanical voice that was oddly flat and calm despite its message of caution.

"Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve."

"Jeez, what the hell hit us? And what's your hull made of? Swiss cheese?" Cyborg commented.

"Actually it's a reinforced titanium alloy. One of the strongest substances in the galaxy. On top of that, there's an electro-magnetic force field surrounding the entire tower," was the Green Lantern's reply.

"Is there any way that it's a false alarm?" Robin asked.

Superman turned away from Starfire and stalked over to the bay wall. He placed his palm flat against the surface and the panel slid open, revealing a small screen and an intercom. The screen fizzed for a moment and then the Flash's face appeared.

"What's the situation?" both Robin and Superman asked at the same time. They glared at each other.

"Something has latched itself onto the side of the Tower and has cut through the hull on decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve. I'm not getting any life sign readings but something is definitely making itself at home," the Flash was saying.

"Don't you guys have an earlier detection system than hull breeching?" Cyborg wanted to know.

"We have scanners that pick up anything that enters this solar system," Superman shot back as he disappeared through the bay doors, Robin following close behind, as was Starfire and the Green Lantern.

"I guess those scanners must be broken or something," Beast Boy said, glancing over at Cyborg. The machine man shrugged his broad shoulders and made a mental note to run through the security system on Titans Tower when he got home. A wave of darkness whipped past them both and from its depths came Raven's voice,

"Are you guys coming or what?"

000000000000000000000000000000

Robin had started out trailing Superman by mere inches but it quickly became clear that the Man of Steel was not accustomed to waiting for backup. With his super speed he was out of sight almost before Robin had gotten through the door. He narrowed his eyes and increased his pace, taking a moment to glance at the Green Lantern, who ran along side him.

"Why is he on a team again?"

The Green Lantern gave a rare smile. "It's not as if we could have told him no."

"Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Warning. Warning. Multiple hull breeches. Decks four, five, seven, nine, and twelve. Warning. Warning."

"Yes, yes, we've got it already. Multiple hull breeches. Not a good thing. Isn't there any way to shut that thing up?" Raven asked as she flew up beside Robin. He turned his head again; she kept her eyes focused in front of her but he could tell that she had directed her comment at him. It was the first thing she had said to him in hours that hadn't been filled with hurt, distrust, or anger. For a moment, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. And then his indecision passed.

"You could always just get pissed at it."

This time she did turn her head and he saw out of the corner of his mask her eyes narrow dangerously.

And her lips curve.

The hallway they were following abruptly gave way to a four way intersection. Three of those directions were filled with a familiar and unwelcome sight. The flashing red emergency light reflected off of smooth black and orange metal. Beast Boy, in the shape of a hawk, landed on the ground and morphed, his expression one of disbelief.

"Dude! How in the heck did they get here?"

"Probably the same way we did. Space ship. Maybe two. Definitely had to have at least two rocket engines."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes at Cyborg. "Hey, EnCyclopedia-borg, it was a retinal question, okay?"

Raven leaned over and out of the corner of her mouth, said, "I think you mean, 'rhetorical'."

The green changeling waved her statement away with one long fingered hand. "Retinal, rhetorical, whatever. Are we gonna stomp these metal heads or what?"

Reaching into the back of his utility belt, Robin pulled out his telescoping staff and extended it.

"Titans, let's try and remember that we're on a space station circling some two-hundred and fifty miles above the Earth's surface." He sent a stern glance in Cyborg's direction. "That makes this a non-destructible area."

"What are looking at me for?"

Holding out his staff in the direction of the Slade-bots, Robin's answer was, "Titans, GO!"

After so many years of fighting together, the group hardly needed the two words to springboard them into action, and yet, as always, it served as a nice entrance cue. The five heroes shot forward with one unifying goal on their collective minds.

Kick ass.

How they did so was completely up to their own creative (and not so creative) minds. Each has his or her individual style, the Green Lantern noted, and the mixture made for a unique visual. He found himself stepping back from the battle, his keen eyes observing this young generation of heroes that just might someday continue the work of the Justice League.

Starfire, for all the hostility that had exploded between her and Superman, had a remarkably similar battle tactic. She charged straight forward into the fray and used her brute strength to dispatch the robotic warriors. Her motto seemed to be "hit them hard and hit them often." And when her fists and feet weren't doing enough damage for her liking, she tore through the ranks of machines with carefully controlled short bursts of green energy. Powerful enough to rip through their armored plating but with enough finesse to keep from damaging the hull around her, he noted.

His eyes shifted. Cyborg also relied much on his enhanced strength, using his metallic fists to punch through the swarming enemies, and then relying on his sonic cannon to pack an extra punch. But while Starfire was something of a hurricane, ripping a wide path of destruction through the enemy ranks, Cyborg was more like a tornado—his shots were more precise, leaving his foes defeated but for the most part whole, rather than a pile of mangled mechanical limbs. Was it a by-product of laser point accuracy or his fearless leader's warning? The Green Lantern couldn't tell.

To the right Beast Boy had transformed himself into a lion and was tearing through circuitry with razor sharp teeth. Here was a creative mind at work. The changeling shifted between animals with ease, breaking down and reconstructing his DNA in little more than an instant. And the cleverness of the animals he chose—sometimes he went for bulk and strength. A gorilla. A rhinoceros. A hulking beast. Sometimes he went for movement, morphing into a thick skinned python, winding his way around a robot and crushing its circuits. And other times he went for small and nimble, morphing into a mouse, tiny and harmless. He ran up and along metal arms and legs until robots began crashing into other robots in their attempts to catch him. The playfulness of his technique, combined with his constant chatter, brought a ghost of a smile to the Green Lantern's face.

"If you boy's can't play nice, I'll have to separate you two!" CRASH! "I warned you. Somebody's going to poke an eye out. Ooops! Too late! Hey One-Eye! You couldn't hit me if I—Whoa! Lucky shot! Really, guys, I think what we're missing here, is communication. Say it with me dudes—"

"For Azar's sake! They're robots! They can't talk! Which, unfortunately, is not a trait you have in common with them."

The sarcastic reply came from the cloaked sorceress, who was using her dark magic to both block the lumbering attacks of the advancing machines and to tear them apart. The Green Lantern watched her closely. Raven. She was older than she had been the first time she had approached the Justice League but had lost neither the air of mystery that surrounded her nor the heavy feeling of sadness. He knew very little about her other than she came from another dimension, a pacifist society called Azarath. This much she had announced on her first visit. And she was also the daughter of a human woman and a terrifying demon lord known as, aptly enough, Trigon the Terrible. He could see the uncomfortable union of good and evil in the way she fought—crushing enemies without mercy while keeping a watchful eye on her teammates, occasionally throwing out a spray of energy when she perceived help was needed.

"Raven! Duck!"

The cry came from Robin who was running toward the empath at full speed. Without hesitation she complied, wrapping herself in darkness and sinking into the floor. Robin leapt forward, almost passing through her as he took her place. Unconsciously the Green Lantern leaned forward, curious to see the second adopted son of Batman in action.

He was larger than Dick had been—broader in both the shoulders and the chest. And yet still small and tightly packed in an acrobatic manner. He flipped and leapt through the air just as easily as the first Robin had, though there was considerably more violence behind the blows that came at the end of his tumbles. The Green Lantern's eyes narrowed as he watched the youth drive his fist through the head of one of the robots. There was anger bubbling just underneath his cool exterior and the Lantern had to wonder if it was directed at the mechanical creatures themselves or at something else entirely.

Robin rolled underneath a blow aimed at his head and simultaneously slashed at the offending robot with his staff and let fly three small disks towards the remaining group of bots. His aim was dead on—each disc struck metal plating and exploded with a dozen arcing bolts of electricity. In seconds the battle was brought to an abrupt finish.

"Dude, when is Slade going to stop sending out these chumps and give us a real challenge?" Beast Boy boasted, morphing back into himself. He cringed as a heavy, metallic hand smacked the back of his head. Rubbing at the injured spot, he glared up at Cyborg.

"What was that for?"

"You know you're not allowed to say things like that."

"Should we proceed to the other decks? The others may be in need of our assistance," Starfire pointed out, a light pulse of energy still glowing around her hands. The Green Lantern stepped forward and shook his head.

"Since the alarms have been shut off, I think it's safe to say that the other areas have been dealt with."

It took the Titans a moment to realize that both the shrill alarm and the flashing red light were no longer going off. Less than a second later, the voice of the Flash came over the Tower's intercom system.

"It looks like the bad guys have all been cleared out. They've left a little present behind so if everyone could kindly meet up in the resource room on Deck 8, section 4-B."

"A present?" Cyborg asked, lifting an eyebrow. Beast Boy folded his arms over his chest.

"It's probably just another one of Slade's video messages telling us how awesome he is and how he's hidden a trans-ca-bob-u-lating thingy somewhere in the city and with the press of a button he can turn everyone into a blob of oozing sludge-goo, a goo so destructive it can eat through anything! And it'll turn out the Slade's plan isn't really to just turn everyone into goo—it's to turn everyone into good that will completely destroy the city!"

The final bit of his scenario came out in a whoosh of air that either stemmed from sheer excitement or from Raven whacking him upside the head in much the same manner as Cyborg had. Beast Boy touched the back of his head again and fell silent, shooting Raven a dark look that she pointedly ignored.

"If it is a message from Slade, then we're going to have to be on our guard," Robin warned as they all stepped into the lift that would take them to level eight. "But if we're lucky, we might just get some kind of clue as to what he's up to."

"Or maybe we'll get some more delightful nanoprobes injected into our bodies," Raven deadpanned from her spot on the back of the lift. She hated elevators—the sensation of being in-between flying and falling.

The lift doors opened and Beast Boy shuddered. "Don't remind me about those things. Just thinking about them gives me the creeps."

"Are you sure it isn't just the thinking part that's creeping you out?"

"Har, har, Raven. You should really take your act on the road. Or, you know, out into space far, far away from other intelligent life forms."

"Gee, I thought that was where I was."

The door to the resource room slid open, effectively cutting off any reply that Beast Boy might have had. The other members of the Justice League were already gathered around a long table. On its surface was a white box with a small silver crank on the side of it. As Robin's eyes lighted on it, he felt a cold sweat break out on the back of his neck. When he drew up beside the table, he could that "Robin" had been printed across the top of the box in thick black lettering. He glanced up at the others and met Superman's gaze.

"What's in it?" he questioned. Superman shook his head.

"I can't tell. The box is made of lead."

"And our sensors are having trouble analyzing its contents," the Flash added. Cyborg stepped up and held his arm out, punching in the commands for his own sensors. After a moment, he shook his head.

"I'm not getting a clear reading either."

Robin clenched his fingers briefly and shifted his eyes. Batman stood in the far corner, an unreadable expression in his cold eyes.

"Then I guess there's only one way to find out," Robin said, reaching out and grabbing hold of the crank with his thumb and forefinger. Slowly he began to turn it and with each half circle there came a click, followed by silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click, Silence. Click, click. Silence. He resisted the urge to quicken the motion—like a kid opening a jack-in-the-box he had no idea what would come springing out, only having a vague notion that something would. Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence.

"This is intense," Beast Boy whispered to no one in particular.

"Hush," Raven answered.

Click, click. Silence. Click, click. Silence. Click, click—

CLINK!

The box remained closed. Robin took his hand away from the crank and leaned forward slightly, as did everyone else in the room.

BOING!

The top shot off suddenly and a small rectangular shape shot up towards his face but Robin didn't as much as flinch. His jaw clenched as his eyes scanned the message that had been waiting for him.

**KA-BOOM!**

_You've been a bad boy. You must be punished. Prepare yourself for a severe spanking, young man. But let me tell you right from the start…_

"Robin?"

A hand touched his shoulder and Robin turned his head. The last thing he saw before he sank into unconsciousness was a mixture of concern and confusion in Raven's violet eyes.

0000000000000000000000000000000000

The med-lab on the Watchtower was in many ways similar to the one in Titans Tower and at the same time, was very different. The constant humming and blinking of machinery was ever present but it was a much brighter room, with the overhead lights casting a pure white glow that illuminated every square inch. It felt colder too, with the white walls and steel floor. Raven absently tugged her cloak closer as she looked down at the motionless form of the Boy Wonder.

He looked . . . . fragile, stripped to the waist with a number of sensors stuck to his body. She had always thought that he had seemed a little lean but now, with no brightly colored garment to distract her, she could see clearly that there was only muscle and bone beneath the fabric. Well developed muscle. And yet, as impressive as his physique was, it was not what caught and held her attention.

The scar was viscous. Jagged and the width of two fingers, it ran from his collarbone down along his left side top the top of his hip. His left shoulder was no better. The skin was shiny and smooth, almost like plastic, and it spread halfway across his back. Her eyes were drawn to it, as were her fingers, but she pointedly turned them both away, focusing instead on the arm already wrapped in plaster. She could feel the tiny breaks beneath it, thankfully no worse than they had been before the sudden attack. It had not been any physical injury that had caused him to pass out. Raven frowned down at him as she moved her eyes from his scars to his still masked face. Even asleep he did not look peaceful—the expression he wore was a cross between a scowl and a grimace. As if he was remembering something particularly painful. She wondered if it had anything to do with the intense fear she had felt radiating off of him just before he had gone under.

Her eyes shifted back to his chest and the scar. What had caused it? An old accident? A battle with a criminal? It had not occurred at any point during Robin's tenure as the leader of the Titans that much Raven was certain of. Involuntarily, her fingers reached out and then paused, hovering over his skin. She looked up at his face, torn between the need to know and the desire to respect her friend's privacy. His eyes remained closed and her fingers settled, lightly following the winding course of the scar. The images that shot into her mind were sharp and clear. _A white face with an ugly grin. Maniacal laughter that rolled on endless. A crooked metal bar raised high in the air_. Raven gasped as a shockwave of pain radiated through her body; she could feel the unyielding metal slam into her. Strong fingers encircled her wrist and pulled her fingers away.

"You . . .," she struggled to push past the memories that she had seen, to return to reality. She lifted her head and saw him staring at her. "You . . ."

"It was a tire iron. And a bomb. Tire iron first. The bomb was just plain overkill. Leave it to the Joker to fuck things up."

The sound of the crude expletive spoken in his voice startled her back into coherency. "What happened?"

"I was careless." Robin gave a short, humorless laugh. "Stupid, really," he corrected. "The Joker had laid a trap and I walked right into it."

Raven had only a vague notion of who the Joker was. An arch-nemesis of Batman's with a wily, sadistic bent who had a fairly permanent residence in Arkham Asylum and who had a knack for either being released or escaping on his own terms.

"Batman . . .?" she trailed off, not sure what she was trying to ask.

Another laugh, harsher than the first. "Batman. I waited for him. Even after I felt the first blow and knew how stupid I had been, I knew he would come. I hadn't told him where I was going or even that I had left, but I knew he would come. I remember hearing the bomb go off and thought maybe that was it for Robin. But the Joker hadn't meant for the explosion to kill me. He wanted the fire to do that. A charred corpse would be a bigger blow than unrecognizable pieces. It burned, everywhere, and then there was darkness and I knew it was him."

Robin sat up in the bed and turned his body so he legs dangled off the side. His fingers plucked the sensors off absently.

"I'm not going to let Slade become my Joker."

Raven wasn't altogether certain she had heard him correctly. "What do you mean?"

His gaze was fixed on some point on the far wall. "The Joker has ruined the lives of so many people. He's killed, maimed, hurt, and tortured countless times and he's never going to stop. And Batman . . . . Batman is never going to be able to stop him." He turned his head and locked gazes with her.

"I'm going to stop Slade. He's never going to hurt anyone ever again."

The coldness in his voice triggered a warning bell in Raven's mind. She opened her mouth to respond, in what manner, she had no idea, but stopped when she felt a firm squeeze on her arm. Looking down she saw that his fingers were still cuffed around her wrist. As she watched, he drew her hand forward until he could press his lips to her knuckles. A fiery sensation raced up her arm. She shook her head.

"You don't even trust me," she warned, tugging her arm back. He refused to release it. Instead he pulled on it again, this time pressing her fingers against the side of his mask. The leather felt smooth and worn to the touch.

"I trust you," he said quietly.

The tips of her fingers slipped under the edge of the mask and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to pull the stupid piece of leather away. Wanted nothing more than to see the completeness of his face; the lines, the angles, the color of his eyes.

Raven shook her head again and pulled her hand again. This time he let it go.

"I believe you," she replied, just as quietly.

They remained where they were, as still as statues, gazes locked, for a long while. As if each were waiting for the other to come to some decision. Raven wanted to take a step back—his nearness made thinking clearly difficult. She could feel the lingering aftermath of his emotional memories; pain, terror, and anger. That coupled with the intense feelings of desire he was focusing at her was making her distinctly uncomfortable. And yet some part of her wanted to move closer, drawn by both his intensity and the smooth muscles of his chest and shoulders.

Robin shifted slightly on the bed and reached out again, his fingers brushing her waist. At the same time, she "felt" someone approaching the med-lab. It snapped her out of her paralysis and she took two giant steps backwards just as the doors whisked open. Raven had never been so grateful for her empathy when she saw the dark cape and cowl of Batman. His gaze fixed on Robin first, then slid over to her, then back to his ward. Though there was easily five feet between herself and Robin she felt as if he had caught them with arms and tongues tangled. Self-consciously she straightened her back and, without so much as a glance backwards at Robin, she moved to pass through the doors.

"Raven."

He called out just as she got to the exit, forcing her to stop and stand beside the Dark Knight. She tilted her head slightly to acknowledge she was listening but did not turn back, trying her best to ignore the heavy presence inches away.

"Let the other Titans know that we'll be leaving soon."

She gave a short nod and disappeared through the doors. The silence that fell was oppressive and yet distinctly familiar to the Boy Wonder. But it did not last long.

"Keeping your enemies close, I see."

Robin narrowed his eyes and did not reply. Instead he hopped down from the bed and grabbed his uniform shirt from off a nearby table, tugging the fabric over his head. His cape was nowhere to be seen but it didn't matter. There were at least a dozen more back at the Tower. He turned around and saw that Batman had not moved from his spot just inside the room, his expression as unreadable as always. But Robin knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I already told Clark. The Titans will handle this. The Justice League's help is both unnecessary and unwanted."

"Don't be foolish. If the Joker really is involved, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Robin felt his fingers clench. "I can handle him."

"He's already almost killed you once."

"I said, I can handle it," he nearly snarled, angered by the venom he heard in his own voice and by the fact that he couldn't control it. In contrast, as always, Batman was coldly collected.

"If you won't have my help, at least take Nightwing's."

The practical part of Robin's mind cautiously pointed out it was probably a good idea. Another set of eyes and ears would be helpful and Nightwing was an especially skilled detective. Not to mention Dick had his own issues with Batman that would keep him from merely playing watchdog. Still….

"I'll consider it," Robin replied shortly, moving to pass by his mentor. To his surprise, Batman reached out and laid a restraining hand on his shoulder, waiting until the youth lifted his gaze to his.

"Be careful, Jason. I . . . don't want to lose you."

There was an underlying tone to his voice that suggested that he was concerned about something other than life and death. Robin furrowed his brow in momentary confusion, confusion that cleared when he glanced back into the room and his eyes lighted on the observational window on the back wall. The kind with one-way glass. His jaw clenched.

"Consider me lost," he said, pulling his shoulder away and moving forward. After a few steps, he paused and glanced back. "Oh, and by the way, how is Selene?"

Batman was silent.

"I thought so."

00000000000000000000000000000000

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "The Trouble With Reporters."

Robin: (Looks at the box on the table.) "What's in it?"

Superman: "I can't tell. The box is made of lead."

Robin: "You know you never should have given that interview with Lois Lane."

Superman: "Shut-up."

Robin: "I mean, what kind of idiot goes around telling a major reporter for a major paper what his weaknesses are?"

Superman: "_Shut-up_."

Robin: "Why didn't you just tell her that Kryptonite bullets can kill you and then paint a giant target on your chest? Well, the target's actually pretty much already there."

Superman: "My mother made me this costume."

Robin: "Yeah, well, I guess she didn't expect you to like women, huh?"

0000000000000000000000000000000

Author's Note

I am exceeding sorry for the huge span of time between updates. These past couple months have actually been pretty hellish. The good news? I've graduated school. WOOT! Of course, now I have to go out into the real world and get a real job. woot. Anyway, hopefully this will mean that I will have plenty of time to beat my muses into submission and updates will come much faster. I also noticed that I'm not allowed to leave messages for reviewers and that there are little handy reply buttons instead. So, I guess I'll try that out this time. Let me know if it goes ok. I noticed that a bunch of people seemed confused about which Robin I was using so, just in case you're still confused, I'm using Jason Todd. Actually, kind of mixture of pre-crisis and post-crisis Jason Todd. We'll go into it more later. Hope you like the chapter and again, sorry about the wait!


	11. The Road to Eternity

The journey back to Earth in the T-ship was long and filled with an edgy silence that no one felt up to breaking. Cyborg's silence came mostly from his role as pilot and the concentration needed to make sure they made it back alive rather than as a flaming hunk of metal. Both Robin and Raven had nearly identical looks of deep thought etched into their faces; the kind that suggested they would not speak even if spoken to. Over the years Beast Boy had developed a defense mechanism for moments like that.

He had fallen asleep.

That left only Starfire to truly experience the silence as it was. Uncomfortable, she kept twisting her head towards Robin, then Raven, then back out into space. She wished that someone would say something, but could not bring herself to be the one to speak. She had the strong feeling that no one would appreciate questions, comments, or any verses of the traditional Tamearan poem of friendship.

And so she did her best to concentrate on the last few glimpse of space she would have before they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. But instead of being the happy reminder of her beloved Tameran, the endlessness surrounding the ship looked dark. Dark and empty.

With a sigh so unlike her, Starfire turned her eyes away from space and looked down at the panel in front of her. Most of the ships controls were in Cyborg's cockpit, though were they to separate the ship the flat monitor in front of her would flip to reveal a set of controls for her section. They had not had to separate the ship very often in its short span of existence and Star secretly did not think it one of the ship's finer features. A thing that is divided is always weaker than when it is whole.

She rested her chin in her hands and stared down at the four little communication switches, willing one of them, any of them to light up, signaling one of her teammates wished to speak with her.

All four remained silent.

And so she did as well.

The T-ship had barely settled down in the docking port of the Tower when Robin leapt out and headed directly toward the garage, disappearing through a pair of sliding doors. A few moments later, the four remaining Titans heard the roar of his motorcycle as it came to life and shot off into the night. Cyborg raised an eyebrow in the direction their leader had gone, whistling quietly.

"So, I guess Robin is going out then."

Starfire turned her head as well. "To where do you think he is going?"

Shrugging, Cyborg started down the ladder that Robin had been in too much of a hurry to use.

"I have no idea Star. And it's not likely that he'll tell us where he went when he comes back. Secretive little . . . don't know why he's even on a team . . . always solo . . ." Cyborg continued to mutter darkly to himself as he climbed.

Still in his cockpit, Beast Boy paused in the middle of stretching. "You think he'll bring back a pizza or something?"

"Use your brain for once. How many times has Robin gone off by himself into the night and come back with a pizza?"

Raven's voice was slightly hollow as she sank through the bottom of the T-ship and drifted easily to the floor.

Beast Boy dropped his arms to his sides and tilted his head, thinking. "Well, there's a first time for everything, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Raven snapped her cowl up and glided towards the elevator to the Tower.

Starfire glanced back at Beast Boy and Cyborg and, seeing both their attentions occupied elsewhere, flew off after Raven. She caught up with her friend just before the elevator.

"Raven?"

Raven paused without turning around. "Yes, Star?"

"Are you . . ." the alien hesitated, both unsure of the words she wanted to speak and how the pale skinned young woman would take them. But if she had learned anything in her few years on Earth, it was never to keep Raven waiting. She took a deep breath and continued.

"Are you alright?"

As was her custom, Raven was silent for a long moment. Since she could not see her face, Starfire wondered if perhaps she had offended her friend. Perhaps she had . . . annoyed her? She was on the verge of apologizing when Raven gave a faint chuckle. But it was not the sound that one gives in response to a somewhat amusing bit of speech.

It was short and soft. And . . . sad.

"That's a difficult question." Turning her head slightly, Raven glanced over her shoulder just enough so that Starfire could see her eyes, staring out from the depths of her cowl. They appeared just as sad as the small bit of laughter had been.

"Is anything ever 'all right?'" Reaching out she pressed the button for the elevator. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm even a little right."

The quiet despair in her voice nearly broke Starfire's heart. Reflexively she lifted an arm towards Raven's shoulder just as the doors to the elevator slid open. Her hand passed through the air as Raven stepped forward, her dark cloak swishing about her ankles. For a moment Starfire thought her friend might say something more. Both her hands gathered to her chest as she waited.

But the elevator doors closed on silence.

Starfire stared at the cold metal and felt waves of hurt, disappointment, and worry crash over her and the effect was unsettling. She was used to strong emotions; they coursed through her veins nearly as regularly as her blood. What she was not accustomed to was feeling so many negative ones. Anger and frustration being the two most frequent. It did not help that they were fighting a villain who would not stand and fight them. Instead he hid and sent others out to do his bidding. Using his lies and treachery to turn them all against each other.

Her hands clenched until they began to glow green.

She felt a cold, smooth hand touch her shoulder and turned to see Cyborg's concerned face.

"Uh . . . you weren't planning on going nuclear on one of us, right?" he asked with a half-hearted smile. Behind his massive shoulders, Beast Boy peeked out and gave a meek little wave.

Starfire let her hands open and fall to her sides and tried valiantly to work up a smile. And for the first time that she could remember, it did not feel right on her face.

"Of course not, friends. I am sorry. It is just so . . ." At a loss for how to describe what she was feeling, she trailed off, hoping they would somehow understand.

To her relief, she saw Beast Boy bob his head and felt Cyborg give her shoulder a light squeeze.

"We know Star," he said in his deep voice. "It's tough on all of us. But we're Titans. We'll work it out."

Lifting her arm, Starfire placed her hand over Cyborg's. "I hope that you are right."

As agile as the monkey he so often took the form of, Beast Boy scrambled up Cyborg's back and perched on his shoulder. "Hey, the Cy-man is always right! Which is totally more annoying than the fact that he cheats at videogames. But you learn to live with it."

Frowning, Cyborg flicked a finger towards him, as if he were swatting away a fly. Beast Boy dodged the half-hearted attempted easily and stuck his hands in his ears, blowing his tongue nosily.

"I'll show you something you can't live _without_," Cyborg warned as he wiped spray from the side of his face. Grinning, Beast Boy bounded from the bigger man's shoulders to Starfire's before leaping into the air and transforming into a sparrow. As Starfire laughed delightedly and Cyborg shook one heavy fist at him, he zipped out of the garage.

"Come on Star. Let's go order a pizza or twenty," Cyborg said, punching the button for the elevator.

Starfire nodded and followed him inside. Once the doors shut, she felt some of the laughter that Beast Boy had arose in her died away, smothered almost by an unseen blanket of unfeeling. She glanced over at Cyborg and saw immediately that he was feeling the same thing.

"They are very similar, are they not?"

Cyborg hit the button for the top floor and glanced down at her. "Who?"

"Robin and Raven."

He gave a mirthless chuckle. "Yeah, they're a couple peas in a pod."

Starfire's eyes widened. "You mean to say that you believe Robin and Raven have been replaced by pod people?!"

"What?! No, no, it's just a—" Cyborg took one look at Starfire's confused face and changed his mind. He waved one hand dismissively. "Nevermind. I meant that yeah, they're pretty similar. But that's not really surprising, considering they're both carrying 'round the same chip on their shoulders."

Starfire's eyebrows drew together as she tried to picture it. "Chip? Like the potatoes?"

The doors to the elevator slid open just as Cyborg slapped a hand over his face. "No, no. I meant . . . they're carrying around the same . . ." Rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, he searched for the right word as they stepped out into the common room. ". . . feelings," he blurted out at last.

Beast Boy's head popped up over the back of the couch. "Aww, man, is wittle Cyborg talking about his feelings again?"

In response Cyborg leveled his arm and the bits and pieces shifted into his cannon.

"Eek!" Beast Boy ducked back down.

Reaching up, Starfire gently placed a hand on the cannon. "What feelings do you speak of?"

"Fear. And guilt. Because they both think that if they mess up, even just a little bit, it'll mean that someone else gets hurts. That's why they're so driven for perfection."

* * *

The hospital room was dark, lit only by the soft glow from the machines that surrounded the single bed. On it laid a body covered to the chest with a thin, blue blanket that hid the wires and tubes that ran from the machines into him. It was quiet, save for the steady hum of electricity and the occasional gasp that came as he struggled to breathe. 

The shadows in the corner drew together.

"Who paid you?"

One swollen and blackened eye rolled towards the voice and something that might have passed for a smile ghosted the ravaged face of the Ravager.

"I already . . . told you."

"I don't believe you."

The Ravager chuckled and it quickly gave way to a tearing cough. He drew in a shallow breath, the air wheezing through the back of his throat.

"Then . . . I guess . . . you'll have to . . . decide . . . who you trust . . . more. Me. Or him."

Robin stepped forward. "I don't believe you," he reiterated. "Because I know that if Batman really wanted someone dead," he paused, and leaned closer, "he wouldn't hire a scumbag like you to do it."

Anger flashed in the Ravager's eyes and across his face, followed almost immediately by pain and the resignation that he could do nothing about the insult hurled at him. He tried to turn onto his side but couldn't so much as move his head.

"You don't even know who hired you, do you? It could have been anyone in a mask and you wouldn't even be able to tell. It must piss you off, knowing you got played."

The Ravager growled low and clenched his teeth. Robin could practically see the frustration chewing away at him. After a moment he relaxed, shifting his eyes away.

"It doesn't matter . . . who hired me. They already . . . paid me."

"About that." Robin set something down on the edge of the hospital bed. It clanked as it hit the guard rail. Though he tried to resist, the Ravager's eyes drifted towards it.

It was a metal suitcase. His eyes widened in recognition.

"Just so you know the lock on your back window is broken."

Robin could see the hate seething in the older man's eyes.

"When . . . I get out . . . I will . . . hunt you . . . down."

Lifting the suitcase off the bed, Robin turned and started towards the exit. He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find me. I live in a giant T."

* * *

In the comforting darkness of her room, Raven sat in the middle of the floor, stacks of books surrounding her. Each day the piles grew taller as she sifted and searched through all the tomes and grimoires that she owned for anything that might her change the fate that she was careening toward at ever increasing speeds. One such thick book lay open before her but her eyes saw none of the words scrawled across the page. She stared, willing her mind to read the inscriptions but it was as if her brain had been encased in ice. 

Slowly the golden ink drained away until the pages were blank.

Then her father's symbols began to draw themselves across the parchment in burning red. Within the harsh lines she could see fires raging, fires that would burn for all time, engulfing anything and everything in its path. And deep within the fires, the eyes laughing at her.

"Dammit!" she cursed, slamming the book shut and shoving it off of her lap. She could feel herself trembling and though she tried to tell herself it was from rage she knew, she _knew_, that the icy knot inside of her stomach was not Anger acting up. Pressing a hand to her aching temple, her fingers felt frozen against her feverish brow, making her wonder if perhaps she was coming down with some kind of cold. A helpless laugh escaped her briefly as she wondered if that would be enough of an excuse to postpone the end of the world.

_Excuse me, but I have a cold. Can we do this another time?_

Shaking her head, Raven pushed herself onto unsteady feet and reached for the cloak she had tossed onto her bed. She wound it around herself quickly, not wanting to see the marks that she knew were there. And then, though she would never admit that she did so, especially to Robin whom she was constantly berating for the same action, she began to pace. Back and forth across the room.

There had to be something that could be done. Some way of repelling her father.

What if she simply left the planet? If she, his portal, wasn't there to welcome him in, then how could he arrive on Earth?

Wherever you go, her mind whispered to her, he will be there as well. Even if you took yourself to the edge of the universe, he could still find his way back here. And would you doom the inhabitants of other worlds, just to save this one?

No, she said in frustration. Deflecting her father's course would only be a temporary solution and a poor one at that. If she truly wanted to stop her father, she had to destroy him.

But how? How did one destroy an immortal demon?

None of her books had an answer to that.

She paused in mid-step, her head snapping to the far side of her room. To the sturdy blue chest that sat tucked into a corner. Nearly tripping over the stacks of books, Raven sprinted toward it, knocking aside the scrolls she had rested on top of it and shoving open the lid.

The only thing inside it was an old leather bound book, not unlikely the others tossed about the room. Raven started to reach inside and then paused, her fingers inches from the cover.

_Is it dark? Or is it just . . . misunderstood?_

Was it worth it? For the greater good . . .

Biting her bottom lip, she took hold of the book and dragged it out onto the floor. Closing her eyes briefly, she took a deep, steadying breath.

"Malchior?"

The book remained silent.

"Malchior? Malchior? I _know_ you're in there."

"Well of _course_ I'm in here. Where the hell _else_ would I be? You did seal me away in here, remember?"

"You did try and kill me, remember?"

"You humans. Always dwelling on things."

Feeling her teeth begin to grind, Raven struggled to control her temper. "I need to ask you something."

Malchior's laughter was hollow. "Priceless. Pray tell me, _why_ would I help you?"

"Two reasons: one, you're an ego maniac who loves letting people know how smart he is and two, if you don't answer me, I'll let the fires burn you to a crisp."

Malchior's voice was bored. "Child, that is not much of a threat. We both know that fire cannot hurt this book."

"My father's fire can."

The room abruptly filled with silence.

"Fine. Ask your question."

"The spell that holds you in this book . . . would it hold my father?"

The question hung in the air for a long moment before a _tsking_ sound came from the book.

"You are desperate, aren't you? Well, since I do enjoy being the bearer of bad news, I believe I shall answer you. And the answer is no. Your father is far too powerful for such a spell nor is there a book large enough to hold him."

Raven felt her shoulders slump in defeat. She lifted the book, set it back inside the chest and moved to close the lid on it once more. But Malchior, perhaps starving for the need to speak, was not finished.

"Honestly, sometimes your dimness amazes me. Your people created Trigon. You would think that perhaps _they_ would have some knowledge on how to defeat him."

Sighing, Raven shook her head, suddenly too tired to be angry. "Don't you think they would have told me how if they knew?"

"Would they?" the book shot back. "Azarath is a _pacifist_ society."

"So?"

"So think! Did they send you here? Or did _you come of your own accord_?"

* * *

"Dudes! How long are we going to wait for him? Seriously." 

Cyborg looked away from the television screen just long enough to give Beast Boy a glare. "C'mon Beast Boy, you know it's impossible to tell how long Robin'll be gone when he goes on one of his solo bends."

Beast Boy frowned and flailed his arms wildly. "Hello! I wasn't talking about Robin. I was talking about the pizza dude! He's like fifteen minutes late! I'm STARVING!"

Rolling his eyes, Cyborg replied, "Go . . . eat your foot or something."

Folding his arms across his chest, Beast Boy threw himself down on the couch and sulked. Feeling sympathetic, as her own nine stomachs were beginning to growl, Starfire stood up from the couch.

"Come friend! I will make us a snack of _ughlarthas_ that shall tide us over until the pizza arrives!"

Beast Boy's face paled. "Uh . . . I don't know what that means, but I'm not hungry anymore."

The door on the right side of the common room slid open and Raven stepped through. "Come on Beast Boy, nothing like a little bit of _ughlartha_ to fill you right up."

Swallowing, Beast Boy placed a hand over his stomach. "Dude, even the sound of it sounds disgusting." He watched her move into the kitchen, his eyes narrowing when he noticed her hand trembling slightly as it placed her tea kettle on the stove. "So . . . what dragged you out of your cave?"

The look she sent him was blistering. "The need to kill you."

The elevator doors slid open. "Can the killing be postponed until after pizza?" Robin asked as he walked in, pizza boxes in one hand and a silver suitcase in the other.

Raven reached into the cupboard for one of her mugs and shrugged. "I'll think about it."

"FOOD! Finally!" Beast Boy leapt up from the couch and snatched the boxes from Robin's arm.

"Hey! Don't eat all that! Save some for the rest of us," Cyborg scolded.

"Yeah, like I'd eat any of your stinking meaty pizza."

As the noise behind her grew, Raven focused on the simple act of measuring out her tea and pouring the steaming water over it, watching the clear liquid darken. She set the tea kettle aside and wrapped her hands around the mug, feeling the warmth seep into her skin.

Though she did not hear Robin approach, she knew when he was standing beside her. She took a small sip of her tea and without turning her head, asked,

"Where did you go?"

Robin set the suitcase up on the counter with a small thud and reached into the cupboard for a bottle of aspirin. He felt as if his brain had its own pulse and the steady thrumming was not as gentle as a heartbeat.

"Out," he replied, twisting off the cap and popping two of the small white capsules into his mouth. "For pizza," he finished, after he swallowed.

"See? I told you there was a first time for everything!" Beast Boy called.

The look she sent him had him lowering his head and stuffing another piece of pizza into his face.

She took another sip of tea. "That's funny, considering the pizzas you got were the exact same ones that Cyborg ordered an hour ago for delivery."

Robin folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the counter. "That is funny."

Raven's eyes shifted to the suitcase. "What's that?"

Robin drew her eyes back to his. "A donation."

"Hey, do you guys want any of this?" Beast Boy asked.

"No," they both said at the same time.

Tapping her fingers on the edge of her mug, Raven considered if she should tell the rest of the group the plan she had formed, or was forming, albeit with the help of Malchior. She frowned slightly. Maybe she would just leave out any mention of Malchior. It wasn't as if he was mentoring her again. In fact, he was shut back up in the chest with several other heavy books on top of its lid. But if she happened to let slip that he had any hand in the idea that had formed in her head, she had feeling the no one on the team would be likely to consider it.

"What are you thinking about?"

Raven turned to see Robin still watching her. She lifted the mug to her lips and then lowered it without drinking. "I need to go somewhere," she answered slowly, trying to figure out the best way to explain it.

"Where?"

The tone in his voice had her pausing and lifting one eyebrow in question.

He stared back at her for a long moment. And then sighed.

"I went to see the Ravager. To see if he had anything else to say."

"And did he?"

"No. I don't think he actually knows who hired him," he replied. He looked at her expectantly.

Raven pushed back the cowl of her cloak and set her mug down on the counter.

"I must return to Azarath."

* * *

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "Metaphorical Mix-ups" 

Cyborg: "Yeah, they're a couple peas in a pod."

Starfire: (eyes wide) "You mean to say that you believe Robin and Raven have been replaced by pod people?!"

Cyborg: "What? No, no. I just mean that they're made from the same mold."

Starfire: (eyes widening) "They are robots?!"

Cyborg: "No, no. They're just cut from the same cloth. That's all."

Starfire: (eyes bulging) "Robin and Raven are made of cloth?"

Cyborg: (sighs) "Yeah, Starfire. Robin and Raven are made of cloth. They're two polyester zootsuits complete with rhinestones, a funky hat, and a pink boa."


	12. A Meeting of Minds

Author's Note**

Holy bananas it's been a while. What can I say? Life or something like it. Hopefully the offering of two chapters in one shot is enough of an apology.

###

Though technically the day had yet to end and the sun was still a sphere of fiery orange and red, the chill of night was already sweeping in on the wind. It sent the blistering temperature of the day spiraling down even as it sent patches of leaves and litter cycloning up. Boats on the bay were grateful for the breath in their sails that shot them toward the safety of the harbor while the teenagers hanging out on the wharves grabbed their baseball hats to keep them from flying off.

On the roof of Titan's Tower, Raven's long cloak curled and snapped satisfyingly in the breeze. The short strands of her hair, however, blew across her face, tickling her skin and proving to be just enough of a distraction to be annoying. After several attempts to just ignore it and a few shifts of her head, she opened her eyes and did what she found herself doing more often than usual.

She sighed.

As she pushed the hair back from her face, she tried to do the same to the frustrations that were coiling underneath her skin. She had been up there since the morning, vainly seeking the meditative focus she needed before making the trip to Azarath. But nearly every time she closed her eyes, she revisited the scene the night before when she had announced her intentions to her teammates.

###

_Although she said it quietly, Robin being her only intended audience, the five words had nearly the same effect on the entire room as if she had jumped up and down on the couch, waved her arms wildly in the air, and professed her undying love for Katie Holmes. Like a vacuum, the quiet statement sucked all the noise out of the room. The four other Titans stared at her with expressions that varied from unreadable, to concerned, to confused, to even more confused. _

_And then, abruptly, they all began to speak at once. The sheer volume of it blew Raven's hair back from her face and nearly lifted her off her feet. Frowning, she folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot lightly, waiting for them to settle down. Only Robin remained silent._

_The noise only grew as each of the three Titans simultaneously tried to voice their questions to her and to each other._

_Raven's hands slid to either side of her waist. "QUIET!" she barked._

_The other Titans paused for a moment and then, each seeing an opportunity to be heard, began to launch a second barrage of questions._

_She held up a hand to stop them. "I'm going because it may be the only place where I can find out how to defeat my father."_

_Beast Boy's head twisted left and right as he watched the others consider her answer. He meekly raised one hand into the air. Rolling her eyes, Raven glared at him._

_"Yes, Beast Boy?"_

_Standing up as if he were about to get an oral presentation, Beast Boy first scratched his elbow and then his head. "Uh . . . maybe I'm the only one wondering, but . . . what exactly is Azarath?"_

_She tilted her head, her eyebrows shooting up. "It's where I'm from. You know that."_

_He waved that statement away. "Yeah, of course. We all know that. But its also part of your little Mantra of Doom. So what I meant was . . . what is it? Is it like a city in Michigan? Or is it a whole other planet? Or . . ." he trailed off, having run out of options that he could conceive of._

_As she considered whether or not to throw something at him, Raven glanced at the others and was surprised to see echoing expressions of curiosity spread across their faces. Her forehead wrinkled. She had explained this all to them before. She must have. Her eyes drifted from face to face as she racked her own memory. It had been almost five years since she had crossed the void. Surely during one of the numerous sappy heart filled conversations that they had dragged out of her during that span she had spoken about her home. Hadn't she?_

_Her gaze stopped on Robin, whose own eyes looked back questioningly from behind his mask. Perhaps it was just the way the mask was designed._

_Feeling nervous for reasons she could not describe, Raven set aside her mug and cleared her throat. "Well. Azarath is a city." Her eyes shot back to Beast Boy and because she found herself almost wanting to smile, she glared at him slightly, "Not in Michigan. Not actually on Earth. Nor is it another planet. It's . . ." she lifted her hands, "another dimension. I guess that would be the best way to put it."_

_Beast Boy's eyes lit up and he perched on the seat of his chair, rocking back and forth slightly. "Like in Quantum Leap? Or Sliders?"_

_Cyborg grinned and stuffed a piece of pizza into his mouth. "Man, I love that show. Remember the one where they're in the prison?"_

_"Dude! And the one where they don't slide in time and totally get stuck!"_

_"And when the guy gets smushed into the other guy?! Awesome!"_

_"But Raven," Starfire's voice could just be heard over the exuberance of the sci-fi enthusiasts, "when we last spoke of your home, you said that you could not return to Azarath."_

_The banter in the room dropped away abruptly. And, as she always did whenever she was reminded of the time she and Starfire had traded bodies, Raven felt her left eye tick. She pressed one hand to the side of her temple in an attempt to stop it._

_"Yes, well. That's true. Technically I'm not really allowed to go back," she admitted._

_"What do you mean, you're not 'allowed' to go back? What's stopping you?" Cyborg asked._

_"It's something of banishment . . . self-exile thing."_

_CRASH! _

_Four heads whipped around in time to see Beast Boy drag himself back up from the floor. "Dude! They banished you? That's so medieval! What are they, Nazis?" he protested._

_Raven felt herself growing defensive. It was her home, after all, that they were speaking of. "No, of course not. Azarath is a pacifist society." She folded her arms across her chest because she couldn't figure out what else to do with them. "And they didn't actually banish me. I left before they could."_

_Robin stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "Why?"_

_She knew that he was not asking why she had left just as she had known that he would be the one who would poise the question. There was no use trying to hide it. Still, she felt her stomach plummet to somewhere around her knees and tried to tell herself it was just the smell of undercooked tofu and pineapple pizza. Her eyes were steady on him. "Because I destroyed Azarath. Or . . . to be more accurate, I'm going to destroy it. But in Azarath, that means the same thing."_

_The statement settled over them like a dense fog and each Titan struggled to shift their way through it. They had each seen Raven's powers in action, knew what she could do when angry, let alone possessed by an immortal demon. So the idea of her being able to level a city was easy to picture. But in what manner did the past tense and the present tense mean that same thing?_

_Even Robin's head began to throb as he considered it._

_After several seconds of trying to comprehend it, Beast Boy threw his arms up in the air and resorted to what always worked for him best. His mouth._

_"Dude, is there like any way we could get the SparkNotes version? Because I have absolutely NO idea what you're talking about."_

_The fog rolled out. Raven wondered if perhaps she would simply die of an aneurism before the day of her father's ascension came._

_"The dimension that Azarath exist within, is eternity," Raven began, and then stopped, remembering who she was speaking to. "Do you know what eternity is?"_

_"Yeah, it means like forever and ever, right?"_

_"Yes and—" she paused and shifted her thinking. "That's part of it. Eternity doesn't just mean time that lasts forever. It means all time, all at once. Past, present, and future all happen at the same time. And not just one past, one present, and one future. All pasts, all presents, all futures. And, in a great many of those futures, Azarath is destroyed and I have something to do with it. But the Azarath that I destroy exists in the future along with the old Azarath that was first formed and the Azarath that exists now."_

_"My head hurts. Is it just me, or is anyone else really, REALLY confused?" Beast Boy asked, looking around at the other Titans. Robin had one hand tucked thoughtfully underneath his chin in his classic there's-a-mystery-to-be-solved-Scooby-Doo poise while Cyborg merely sat staring at Raven, as if she had just slammed him over the head with a gigantic wooden mallet. Together, the three of them turned their confused eyes on Starfire, who was quietly seated at the end of the table, her hands folded in front of her. Her eyes shifted to each of them in turn._

_"I thought friend Raven explained eternity quite well. The Tamerean explanation is somewhat more complicated." Without waiting for approval, Starfire launched into a very dry, technical description of space, time, dimension and other things that generally should not be talked about outside of an astrophysics lab. Outside, cars whizzed through the streets of Jump City and the moon drifted across the sky and the stars revolved. Businesses closed, street lights flickered on, and the citizens they worked so hard to protect wandered home._

_"That is how we on Tameran explain it." _

_The silence in the room was nearly deafening. After a full minute, Beast Boy shook his head and held one hand out in front of him as if he were trying to ward off some kind of evil spirit._

_"No . . . no one talk . . . to me. Ever. Room. Me. Going." And with that, he slid of his chair and stumbled through one of the doors in the common room._

_Raven raised an eyebrow. "Does someone want to tell him that that is the storage closet?"_

_A second later a loud crash came from behind the door Beast Boy had stepped through. Cyborg pushed up from the table. "I'll get him." He started to turn, paused, and looked back at Starfire. "And you are not allowed to explain anything ever again."_

_Starfire blinked. "Did I in some way misspeak?" she asked._

_Raven shrugged. "I think the bit about the worm holes might have been more than Beast Boy's tiny brain could handle."_

_The alien princess considered that for a moment. She frowned. "But Raven, if you are 'banished' from Azarath, then how are you to return? What I mean to say is, will they not be angry?"_

_"Well, I'm sure they won't be very happy about it."_

_Starfire nodded. "Then we shall accompany you so that we might hold their anger in check."_

_Pressing on hand against her forehead, Raven tried to remember what it felt like to not have a headache. "I appreciate it Starfire. I do. But I hardly need protection."_

###

Sometimes though, when she closed her eyes, she found herself staring into four eyes burning as red as the sinking sun while runes carved with fire appeared in the darkness behind them. And though they wavered and shimmed like a desert mirage, she could understand their horrible meaning as clearly as if someone were reading them out loud in her head.

Raven pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose, the pressure behind her eyes nearly unbearable.

"Headache?"

Squeezing her eyes tightly, Raven made the silent wish for just one more minute of alone time. Then she glanced to her right where Robin stood, one gloved hand outstretched, two small white pills in his palm. She stared at them for a long moment before she could convince herself that taking them was really a necessity at that point, and not a weakness.

"How could you tell?" she asked, as she picked up the pills and dry swallowed them.

"We knew something was wrong when the windows in the common room blew out."

Raven winced.

"Cyborg said it was probably time to change them anyway since it's been almost two weeks since the last time."

Her lips twitched slightly, but she managed to withhold the smile. The small movement still managed to send a line of heat up into the throbbing mass that was currently her brain. "Glad I could help," she replied, turning back to look out over the bay. After a moment, she felt him step up beside her on the ledge, adjusting his distance until he was no more than an arms-length away. Close enough for her to be unable to ignore his presence but far enough to be just outside her personal comfort zone. It suddenly occurred to her that she had been up on that very ledge a number of times lately and usually in some manner of emotion distress. Certainly enough times for the leader of her team to automatically assume she needed some sort of comforting whenever she was up there.

She found herself scowling. She did not need comfort. What she needed was a manner in which to commit patricide. Preferably without destroying the whole of existence.

And if she couldn't manage that, she would settle for saving the lives of those she had come to care about.

"You don't have to worry about us."

Surprised by the statement, so closely echoing her thoughts, Raven turned her head, blinking as the wind streamed into her eyes.

He was looking out over the bay, rather like a young prince surveying his kingdom. She supposed it was an apt enough description; he was the adopted son of Gotham crime fighting royalty. But on the other hand, it seemed too fussy a title for the way his eyes scoured the horizon, even when "off-duty". He was more like a Viking warrior, watching the outlying waves for signs of an invasion he was certain would be coming.

She remained silent, suspecting he had more to say.

When he finally shifted to face her, she was surprised to see in his masked gaze something other than the unwavering intensity that she had been expecting.

It looked like . . . acceptance.

"We all knew what we were signing up for," he intoned, as if he were quoting from something. With a start, Raven realized it was her, from their conversation on the same roof weeks earlier. She nearly sighed again, sadness wrapping around her chest tighter than her cloak; she had thought she had been offering him words that would comfort him. But hearing them directed at her, she suddenly understood how very discomforting they were.

How much easier everything used to be, back when she was unfeeling and unflinching. Though, truly, had she really ever been so? Hadn't she felt a searing rush of pain all those years ago when the Justice League had rejected her plea for help? Hadn't she felt a spark of hope when the dark cowled knight had directed her toward Jump City and the "team being assembled there"?

But it had been her pain and her hope. How much different and more difficult it was to experience the pain and hope of others.

"Do you remember when you told me that you didn't think you could bear to face the death of one of us?" she asked quietly, almost too softly for him to hear.

Robin nodded. Her eyes wanted to slide away but she kept them on his, feeling it was important.

"I . . . know how you feel now."

Though his face did not immediately change its expression, she could feel his surprise, followed swiftly by feelings of understanding and sorrow. And at the very end, like hope flittering near the top of Pandora 's Box, was a sense of . . . delight. It was small and restrained, but as it washed over her, it served to soothe the nerve endings rubbed raw by the past few grueling weeks.

He stepped forward suddenly and, before she could even think to react, reached behind her, tapping her lightly on the back twice, before stepping back just as quickly. She blinked, twice, utterly confused as she looked at his face and saw the playful smile tugging at his lips. In response, he arched one eyebrow coolly in an expression that was very familiar.

She had worn it immediately after offering him her awkward version of a hug.

The laugh that escaped her was the first true one she had made . . . in quite some time. She almost didn't recognize the sound. Part of the weight that was crushing down on her shoulders slipped away and for a moment, she managed to ignore the insidious whispers in her head that said time was running short.

Taking a deep breath, in which she drew up as much of her courage as she could muster, she did what she very much wanted to do; she stepped closer, wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head against his chest.

And felt the rest of the weight lift.

If Robin was surprised by her actions, he did not show it. Instead, his hands came up to rest on her back, rubbing up and down lightly. Her cheek was pressed against the smooth leather of his insignia and through it she could hear the slow, steady drum of his heart beat.

"Does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

At the sound of his voice, Raven glanced up without lifting her head. "I was never mad at you."

He scoffed, the noise vibrating in his chest and against her ear.

"I was irked. Severely irked. But not mad."

"Well then, does this mean you're not irked with me?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether or not you ruin the moment."

Raven felt, rather than saw, his smile as he fell silent. His arms tightened briefly around her and she could feel the hard planes of muscle underneath his uniform. Her stomach fluttered nervously as the warm, comforting feeling inside of her was suddenly replaced with something hot. She began to pull away, pushing lightly against him.

For a moment she wondered if he would refuse as his arms tightened again. But then his arms dropped and he took a quick step back, his eyes averted slightly as if he suddenly realized he had overstepped some invisible boundary.

"Are you sure about what you're planning on doing?" he asked hastily, folding his arms across his chest. The small space between them seemed to grow, though neither moved.

It took Raven a second to understand what he meant. She nodded, to give herself more time to compose herself.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Zatanna was right. My people did create Trigon. They must know of some way of destroying him." She kept the fact that it had been Malchior who had given her that particular insight quiet.

Robin frowned. "Why wouldn't they have told you before?"

"Because the people of Azarath are pacifists. They don't just believe in pacifism. They _are_ pacifists. They would never consider nor are they even capable of fighting."

He looked unconvinced and Raven couldn't really blame him. They spent all of their time struggling to combat the evils of the world, whatever form they took. It was impossible for people like them to understand a society that not only refused to fight but was completely unable to do so. Raven's comprehension only stemmed from her having experienced it first hand, something Robin would never have the opportunity to do.

"It's difficult to explain," she admitted. "But even if they don't have any answers, I have to try. I can't just sit here and . . . wait for the end to come."

She knew that was something he could relate to and sure enough, he nodded.

"When will you leave for Azarath?" he asked, finally voicing the question that had brought him up there in the first place.

Raven frowned, thinking of the burning runes in her mind's eye.

"Something wrong?"

She wanted "no" to be her answer - the short phrase that had once been so incredibly easy to utter. But when she shifted her gaze and saw Robin watching her patiently, "no" became the only answer that she could not give. She wanted to resent him for that but knew it would be unfair of her. In some ways, she had forced him into the role of counselor. Hadn't she delved into his consciousness, connected their minds? On the night of her birthday, when the entire world had stopped, hadn't she unfrozen him to take part in that hellish "celebration"? Knowing his need to make what was wrong right, how could she resent him for trying to "fix" the world that was shattering around her? Even if it was impossible?

"I'm still having trouble with my meditations," she offered grudgingly.

Robin appeared curious. "And that affects your returning to Azarath?"

A wry smile wormed its way onto her face. "Only if I want to make it in one piece." His face screwed up in confusion and Raven felt compelled to elaborate. "When I teleport here, I'm only traveling between two dimensions of space. Traveling to Azarath requires passing through many, many more. The more dimensions you travel through, the more chances there are of . . . leaving pieces of yourself behind."

It was Robin's turn to wince. He recovered quickly, determination appearing as a line following the edge of his mask.

"All right. Let's do it then."

Raven blinked. "What?" she asked, as he sank to the ground, folding his legs underneath him. He glanced up at her with that infuriating expression on his face, the one that always had her telling him things she did not absolutely have to and was all but certain she did not want to.

"I told you that I would help you, didn't I?"

"Help me with what exactly?" she asked cautiously, feeling only more confused.

"With your meditation. I said you can use my head. The offer still stands."

Distracted, Raven sat down beside him, her mind rolling back to the past conversation. It seemed like it had been years ago that they had discussed it, down on the rocky beach below them.

"But that was before . . ." Trailing off, her eyes, though she tried to stop them, flickered over to meet his, ". . . things," she finished lamely, feeling the awkwardness that had been plaguing their interactions for weeks seeping in again. Would it always be like this, she wondered. Could they never return to the way things had been? The thought made her sad.

And lonely.

His only response was to close his eyes.

When she couldn't find the strength to refuse and discovered that she really didn't want to try, Raven did the same.

After being in the dying light of the day, the sudden plunge into the blackness of her mind was disjointing. But it took only a moment for Raven to steady herself and to find the "pathway" in her mind that connected her to Robin, despite the fact that it was not the only one like it. There were nearly a dozen or so swirling in the psychic mist, gateways to the minds of others she had formed a mental link with. Most were older and unused, carry-overs from her youth in Azarath under the tutelage of the priests and priestesses there, but there were also others more recently formed.

Though they had only swapped bodies, there was a brightly lit road to Starfire's mind that Raven had been shocked to find the first time she had meditated after the incident with the Puppet Master. She had never mentioned it to the alien princess and wasn't sure how she felt about it being there.

There was a twisting and curving path that led into Mumbo Jumbo's head, a curious side affect stemming from her trip into his magic hat. She had never followed it to its conclusion, had no desire or intention of ever doing so, and really hoped it would just go away on its own.

And then there was Robin's path, formed by smooth flagstones that led to a simple door with a stylized "R" emblazoned on it. Before she could give any thought to turning around, she grabbed the handle and, pushing the door open, stepped through.

Into a zoo.

Literally.

She found herself under bright blue sky and surrounded by a menagerie of animals, some behind glass, and others in large pens. Above her was a gate, the words "Gotham City Zoo" wrought out in iron. There were people milling about as well, a strange mixture of characters from his memory she supposed. In a completely surreal moment, she watched the Joker and Batman strolling together, passing a crinkled brown bag of what looked like roasted peanuts between them.

"Is this a better 'happy place'?"

Turning to look over her shoulder, Raven jabbed her thumb in the direction of the green haired criminal and the caped crusader. "I don't know if Batman would think so. Unless there's something you're not telling us about him. You know, beyond all the other things you've never told us."

Robin rubbed a hand under his chin as he followed her line of sight. "That is kind of disturbing. It's not, some kind of repressed desire of mine, is it?

"You mean, something along the line of seeing Batman and the Joker as substitute parents?"

His face paled. "I didn't even think about that. That would be creepy."

"Well I'm not an expert in psychology but I would suggest that sometimes a peanut, is just a peanut."

He cocked an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

She shrugged. "You see Batman as a partner and the Joker as a hated nemesis. Your mind simply sees them as memories and is using them to 'fill in the blanks' of this place you're creating. A zoo is supposed to be crowded, so it's supplying you with the people to do that with."

"Makes sense, I guess. I used to come here all the time as a kid."

The off-handed remarked threw her for a moment. It was one of the few times she had ever heard him mention his life outside of the Titans and she found it difficult to imagine the dark haired young man next to her as a wobbly kneed child, entertained by the caged creatures. As if to prove her wrong, she suddenly recalled one of the images she had seen in her trip through his mind; a scrawny boy in an ill-fitted dark suit, sprawled out before two blocks of carved stone, while the rain poured down.

Shaking the image away she heard herself ask, "Why?"

Not noticing her momentary distress, Robin began walking down a cobblestone walkway, moving further into the zoo, forcing Raven to move with him in order to hear his reply.

"Well, the circus that my parents and I worked in was set up in the park next to it." He smiled. "And I'm a big fan of kettle corn."

"Kettle corn?"

"Yeah, you know. That sweet popcorn." At her blank expression, he shook his head. "You've never had kettle corn. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure that they probably have some at the zoo in Jump. It's kind of a staple."

"I hardly think that popcorn is a significant enough reward for wading through crowds of people gawking at animals in cages while small children run amuck, begging to be eaten."

"You've never had kettle corn."

Raven stared at him. "I don't understand you," she blurted out in exasperation.

"What do you mean?"

"We're fast approaching an event something very much akin to the End of Days. My father is going to bring Hell to earth and we have absolutely no way of stopping him. It's extremely likely that there IS no way to stop it. Meanwhile, several people have tried to hire a gun to kill me, one of which being the Justice League, the very group that, ironically, I came to asking for help to destroy my father almost five years ago. On top of that Slade is still out there, playing sidekick with his own agenda. And we're here, in your mind, talking about kettle corn. You don't find that odd?"

Robin opened his mouth to speak but Raven rolled right over him.

"And no, I don't want to talk about any of that. I want it to be over. But at the same time, I don't because I know, I KNOW, that it can only end one way and I would give anything to be able to change that." The last word felt like it exploded out of her and even as she drew in a long breath to steady herself, Raven could still feel the seething frustration rolling through her chest.

"Then why go to Azarath?"

She blinked, confused by both the simplicity of the question and the calmness of the voice asking it.

"What?"

He shrugged, an unimportant jerk of his shoulders, as if he were answering the question, 'what would you like for dinner?'

"If things are so hopeless, then why are you up here trying to focus enough to make a dangerous, interdimensional journey? Why bother?"

"I told you. I have to try." Even as the words left her mouth, Raven found herself glaring at the brightly dressed boy. "I hate when you do that."

"Do what?"

"Ask me some inane thing designed to provoke me so that I'll ruminate through my thoughts and arrive at whatever answer I need at the time. Why can't you just give me your opinion?"

Robin smiled slightly. "You're not exactly the kind of person that you give your opinion to."

She pressed her lips together in thought. "I suppose that was a compliment."

"Definitely. Now, what do you do when you meditate?"

The reminder of why they were there, in Robin's head, had Raven drawing her brows together. She suddenly realized that he was going to be part of what had always been a very private ritual for her. The only ones that had ever even met her emotions had been Beast Boy and Cyborg, and that had been in a limited capacity. They had not been privy to the type of conversation she would be having with them now.

There wasn't really any way around it; it was his mind, she couldn't very well ask him to wait outside.

"I need to . . ." she paused as she searched for the best way to describe it without sounding like a lunatic. ". . . speak with my emotions."

If Robin thought the description sounded weird, he kept it well hidden. Instead, he simply said, "All right," and stepped back, whether to give her room or privacy she wasn't sure.

She wished either were possible.


	13. A Mindful Meeting

Robin had not been sure what to expect from Raven's explanation. Clouds of mist? Nothing at all? Just Raven standing in the middle of his head, talking to herself? What did emotions look like and how did you go about speaking to one? When Raven closed her eyes and began murmuring quietly, he snuck a quick look around, wondering if any of his were lurking nearby.

He was surprised when, a few minutes after Raven had closed her eyes, six figures began to appear around her, shimmering in as if they were being beamed aboard. Each wore a cloak nearly identical to the one draped across her shoulders, save for the color. His surprise turned to shock when, simultaneously, they all reached up and pulled back their cowls, revealing half a dozen mirror images of his teammate.

As if she could feel his disbelief, Raven turned towards him and he could tell by the line that appeared in the center of her forehead that she was struggling to make a decision on something. After a moment, she motioned him forward with a brief gesture of her hand. The line remained between her eyes, a sure sign of reluctance.

He hesitated. If there was one thing that Robin was sure that he and Raven shared in common, it was a need for privacy. And he prided himself on his ability to give it to her, even when it went against his better judgment, even when he had the inkling she was keeping something important, something vital from him and the rest of the team. Because he knew what it was to have secrets. To need to keep them.

But the world she was offering him a glimpse into was too fascinating to resist.

"These are the 'other' Ravens, as Beast Boy enjoys calling them," she said upon his approach, sounding very much like an older sister reluctantly acknowledging her siblings.

"They look just like you," he said, knowing he was stating the obvious. Though now that he was closer, Robin could see a few differences between Raven and some of her emotions. The yellow cloaked one wore thin framed glasses while the green Raven had a strange mark on the back of her right hand. And though he couldn't be absolutely sure, she seemed smaller than the others.

Raven shrugged. "I guess I don't have much in way of creativity," she replied, with only the barest hint of defensiveness in her voice. He frowned at it.

"I think its ingenious, using different colors to represent different emotions. What made you think of it?" he asked, trying to ignore the odd sensation of being stared at by six identical faces.

She shrugged again, as if indifferent, but he could see a glimmer of satisfaction in her eyes. Those same eyes went serious only a second later.

"While they may look like me and they may be a part of me, but they are not . . . me," she said slowly. "Do you understand?"

He considered it for a moment, and then shook his head. "Not really. How do you mean?"

Raven's brows drew together and her bottom lip slipped between her teeth unconsciously.

Robin shifted his gaze, uncomfortable with the thoughts the small movement managed to put into his head. _Now is not the time for errant thoughts_.

"I mean that they are pieces of me. Separate pieces. This one," she motioned to the Raven dressed in blood red, "represents my anger. It is not _me_ when I am angry, but my anger alone. In this state, they act as their own. So they may do things and may say things," she shot a dark, almost warning look at a pink—_pink?—_cloaked Raven, "that I would not."

Her meaning dawned on him as he watched the emotion's face stretched into a wide, beaming grin that was just short of maniacal. "I see." The emotion began to bounce up and down lightly on her toes in a manner reminiscent of a child asked to 'wait.' "Which emotion is this one?" he couldn't help but ask.

It was clear to him that she was debating whether or not to say anything. He never used to be able to tell what she was thinking and he had to wonder if he had just gotten better at reading her nearly expressionless face over the past five years or if her being inside his head gave him some kind of mental advantage.

"Happiness," she said finally.

Happiness giggled, a sound Robin had never in a million years thought he would hear coming from Raven and he couldn't help smiling. "You don't let her out much, do you?" he surmised.

"There are reasons for that."

"Starfire would love her."

"That's one of the reasons."

"What's the other?"

"I hate pink."

He felt a pang of sadness at the flat statement and tried not to think about what it meant that she had modeled that particular emotion in a color that she abhorred.

"So," he started, hoping to change the conversation, "what now?"

Raven shifted. "There are . . . things that need be discussed," she offered vaguely.

Seeing her discomfort, Robin began to step back. Surely there was some place in his mind that he could go for however long it took for her to do what she needed to do. There was no need for him to intrude.

"AHEM."

The noise came from the Raven in dark green, who had her arms folded across her chest and was tapping her foot impatiently. She gave the real Raven a sharp look and then pointedly turned her gaze on him.

Raven sighed.

"We also have something to talk about," she said, meeting his eyes.

Unsure of what to say, Robin nodded and remained where he was.

Taking a deep breath, Raven shifted her attention back to her emotions. Without a word, they each took a step forward so that they joined her in forming a loose circle.

"We are returning to Azarath," she stated simply.

The emotions began to all speak at once.

"The temple's library does exceed our own."

"I hate that place."

"We aren't going to find any answers in books. We need to confront the High Priest."

"Are we going to have to fly the whole way again?"

"Shouldn't . . . couldn't someone come with us?"

"There are no answers. This will be a waste of time."

She waited for them to quiet down with more patience than she had ever displayed at one of their convoluted team discussions, Robin noted. Still, her left foot tapped with the exact same rhythm as the green cloaked emotion and he got the feeling her display of calm was mostly for his benefit. After a few minutes, they grew silent again.

"I have a feeling that there may be something in the temple archives that relates to either Trigon or the prophecy. They never did let me down there," Raven pointed out, directing her comments to the emotion draped in yellow.

"It's possible. The temple has records for nearly every moment of Azarath's existence, which I presume would include the creation of Trigon. But the portal that we used to travel here last time is unlikely to still be there," it replied.

Raven nodded. "I know. We'll have to create our own."

The emotion's eyes widened slightly behind its thin glasses but it said nothing.

"And just what are we supposed to look for? You really think someone wrote down, 'Oh, and by the way, this is how you defeat Trigon the Terrible, just FYI.'?"

Raven's gaze shifted to the green cloaked emotion. "No, but I'm hoping that some insight into how he was created will help us better understand our connection."

"That's easy. We're his daughter," the green emotion's tone suggested it wanted to add the word 'stupid' to the end of its sentence.

"That doesn't explain why he's able to force visions upon us from a completely different dimension," Raven shot back.

"Well, how can we be entirely certain that its Trigon that is giving us these visions? It's not as if these are the only visions we have ever had," the yellow emotion pointed out.

Robin blinked in surprise. Other visions?

Raven was shaking her head. "But those visions came after direct contact with someone. As far as I can tell, we haven't been brushing elbows with our father lately."

Adjusting the glasses on her nose, the yellow Raven shrugged and answered, "Blood is a strong bond."

The green Raven scowled. "Blood or not, we're getting really tired of looking at fiery lakes every time we close our eyes."

"What would _you_ suggest we do about it then?" the yellow emotion countered.

"Something!"

"Like _what_?"

By this point, the two emotions were in each other's faces, with identical looks of contention on their already mirror countenances. Robin took an involuntarily step forward, instinctively preparing to break up the argument if it came to blows. At the same time, a thoughtful expression suddenly came over both emotions.

In an incredibly eerie movement, all six of the emotions turned to look, first at _him_, and then at Raven. He wondered if maybe he should have wandered off when he had the chance.

One of Raven's eyebrows shot up. "I'm going to pretend you did not all just suggest that."

Twelve shoulders lifted briefly.

Raven pinched the bridge of her nose. One of the emotions, a trembling figure in grey, timidly stepped towards her, looking all the while as if it were expecting to be scolded for moving. When it was directly in front of her, it stopped and waited silently.

"Do . . . do we . . . do we have to go a-a-alone?" it asked, when Raven lifted her gaze.

Robin was surprised when she gave a smile reminiscent of one she had offered to a child fan who had scuttled up to her once when they had been all been out. Instead of the sarcastic twitch of lips that was most often seen, or the far more rarer, wider upturn, it was a softer expression made more with her eyes than her mouth.

"We know that it becomes more dangerous when we travel between worlds with anyone other than ourselves," she replied gently.

"What does it matter if they die now or die later? There's no escaping the inevitable." The words were spoken by the Raven clothed in red and the disembodied voice that came from within the darkened cowl was scratchier and deeper than the others. Raven's gaze flickered briefly towards it, a warning clearly evident in the violet depths.

The grey cloaked emotion's shoulders sank. "We don't want to go," it stated mournfully.

Raven closed her eyes briefly. "We know." They opened again, and met the stare of each of her emotions. "But we have to."

All six nodded.

She turned to the yellow cloaked Raven. "Do we have everything we need to open the portal?"

"We should, unless Beast Boy has been fooling around with our regents again."

"We did warn him. Repeatedly."

"True, but it _is_ Beast Boy."

"He's funny!" Happiness declared suddenly. "We like him."

Raven rolled her eyes. "That's because 'we' have no taste. And he is not funny."

"That's not true. We also like—"

"Don't." The single word was softly spoken but carried a powerful warning. Happiness fell silent but failed to lose the wide grin that seemed permanently plastered across her face. Raven glanced over at Robin and he tried very, very hard to not have any interest whatsoever in who else it was that her emotions 'liked.'

When her eyes narrowed, he got the impression that he hadn't tried hard enough.

She turned back to her emotions and asked, "Is there anything else that we need to discuss?"

The question was met with silence. And then, the orange cloaked Raven lifted one hand half-heartedly in the air.

"Are we going to eat before we leave? We're hungry."

The sigh that filled the air was magnified by six. Instead of answering, Raven made a short cutting motion with one hand. The emotions shimmered, stretching out briefly before coalescing into one, cloak and uniform a snowy white. It moved swiftly toward Raven, pausing only momentarily when it was less than a foot away, a curious contrast of light and darkness.

Then, in a manner that Robin hoped was not an omen, the two merged and Raven gleamed briefly before returning to her normal hue. He opened his mouth but whatever he had been thinking of saying fell away when she turned to him.

"What's wrong?" was what came out instead.

Raven wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that he always seemed to know when something was bothering her. Then again, it appeared to be a talent he had as none of the others ever managed to escape his perception either.

Or maybe she just wasn't as stoic as she had always believed herself to be. Maybe she liked talking about her problems and her feelings and everything.

She felt a vein in her forehead thrum.

Depressing thought.

But really, how else could she explain the fact that lately, whenever he poised the two little words into a sentence with a question mark at the end, she felt compelled to answer? How could she explain the fact that she was about to horribly embarrass herself by mentioning something she had firmly convinced herself she did not want to talk about? Why did it _matter_ so much?

Azar.

"Raven?"

Unconsciously her hands balled up into fists and she felt her shoulders hunch. "I have to ask you something. And I really, really don't want to," she confessed quietly. She paused, wondering if there was some way she could get out of it. But she could hear the emotions inside of her clamoring and knew if she didn't get it straightened out now, she was liable to find herself smeared across dimensions when one of them distracted her in mid-journey.

Robin remained silent, waiting.

Taking a deep breath, she forced the words out.

"Why did you kiss me?"

When he did not respond right away, she hurriedly added, "Just tell me it had something to do with reassurance in a life-threatening situation."

"I thought that you didn't want to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it. I want to forget it ever happened. But I can't. Because they know about it, which means I know about it and while I know it was nothing, they don't and the conflict is making it a little difficult to focus on the important things."

"Like Trigon?"

"Exactly."

Keeping his eyes on her, Robin shrugged, a small movement of his slim shoulders. "Honestly Raven, I'm not sure why I did. It wasn't exactly the best of moments."

"Understatement," she muttered.

"I just . . . wanted to."

"But you never wanted to before," she pressed, hoping for an answer that would finally quiet the constant questioning and wondering that had made it so difficult to focus on the task at hand. One that would put an end to the fluttering feeling she got in her chest whenever she was alone with him for longer than five minutes. That . . . yearning sensation that made her feel ridiculous and weak.

"That's true," he agreed.

Caught up in her own consideration, she did not notice him move.

"But I have several times since."

Her eyes flickered to meet his; he was closer but not uncomfortably so. Far closer, however, than he normally stood. Closer than was warranted. She shifted slightly, wanting to put distance between them without stepping back.

"We don't need to talk about those."

Robin gave one of his rare, but infuriatingly cocky grins. "How about the fact that I want to kiss you right now?"

Raven dropped her eyes to the ground. "I don't think that would help me very much."

"How do you know if you don't try?"

"Because as I recall, we did try and . . ." she trailed off, her shoulders hunching up further. Her face felt like it was on fire.

She almost wished it was.

"And?" he prompted.

She shot him a dark look. "Nothing."

"Because as I recall, the last time we kiss you ended up saving both of our lives, which included healing a number of very painful broken bits in me."

Raven rolled her eyes. "We have no way of knowing that that had anything to do with it," she disagreed, her fingers reaching for the edge of her cloak. The material was soft and reassuring between her hands.

"Well then, how about I liked the way that it made me feel?"

"How did it-" she bit back the question before it could fully leave her lips. But Robin answered anyway.

"Normal."

Raven stared at him, surprise and then doubt completely overwhelming her previous embarrassment. "Kissing a half-demon you're not even sure you like while a building crumbled on top of you, courtesy of a severely unhinged assassin sent to kill said half-demon, made you feel normal?"

"Among other things," he replied, his smile flashing once more. "For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel like Robin, Batman's sidekick, or Robin, the Teen Titan. I just felt like Ja . . . like a regular guy who got lucky enough to kiss a hot chick."

One eyebrow quirked up. "Hot . . . chick?"

"I believe that's the term that the youth of today uses."

Raven gave a short "hmph." "Well, unlike so called 'hot chicks' I have inhuman abilities that are intrinsically linked to my emotions, abilities that I would rather not lose control of right now, thank you."

Robin lifted his hands questioningly. "You're in my head. Who's to say that your powers would even work here?" he shot back.

She found herself considering it and did not care for the way her stomach jumped. "What if I just don't want to kiss you?"

He shrugged, apparently unconcerned. "Then don't."

Such a simple answer to a complex question. Because, and she would only half admit it to herself and only under the strictest code of silence, she _did_ want to kiss him again. In fact, she wanted it enough that interspaced between hellish nightmares of the future and twisted memories of Azarath there had been one or two dreams, quickly suppressed of course, that had entertained such a desire.

But she had learned very early on that wanting things you could not have only led to pain and destruction.

And what business did she have being Robin's "link" to normalcy? What did that even mean? She wasn't completely unknowledgeable about the habits of "normal" human girls, many of which would undoubtedly be _swooning_ in her position, but she wasn't a normal human girl, had never been, and would never be nor did she see any reason to feel like something she wasn't.

Nor did she see the point in swooning.

Except . . . she still wanted to kiss him. Still wanted to see if her skin would shiver and her stomach flutter the way it had before.

Not that she really remembered it.

She didn't want to want to. But she did.

Robin watched, fascinated by what looked like an intense debate ripple across her face. And he had to wonder if something as simplistic as a kiss was worth putting her through such apparent anguish. They were teammates after all. And while he stood by what he had said those few weeks earlier – he really _wasn't _sure how he thought of her exactly- he had come to see her as something very close to a friend. He respected her opinions, even if they were very often the complete opposite of his own, and the more he managed to learn about her, the more he admired her. Her control. Her strength. Her determination to stop her father. He had no idea what reasons she gave herself for struggling against the seemingly impossible but he doubted that even she could guess at the depth of her own compassion.

As he watched her struggle to respond to his flirtations, he realized his mistake. Kissing her might have made him feel like just a guy but she had never been just a girl. From the day she had been born she had been something else, destined to end a world she had never laid eyes on. He suddenly saw the darkness that she constantly surrounded herself with less as an extension of her powers and more as a weight she was forced to carry. How she managed to do so was beyond his comprehension.

It made his heart hurt to think about.

He was probably skirting well over the line that Batman always called the "Don't-Go-There." And so he started to step back, his hands raised.

"If you're not going to kiss me, then at least let me live," he said lightly, hoping to smooth away the sudden intensity that seemed to be squeezing in.

Before he could move, one of her small hands shot out, grabbing hold of his wrist. They both stared at their joined appendages with equal measures of surprise. When Robin shifted his gaze up to her face, he saw the same expression there that she often wore when confronting one of their countless enemies. He wondered if he had unintentionally earned himself that label.

Raven tried to decide which voice to listen to. The one that, very loudly and very clearly, said "don't" or the absent voice, the one that would have said "go for it" had she been a full-blooded human.

Azar.

She threw his wrist aside in disgust. She didn't need this.

While she had intended to turn around to gain distance and put her back to him, she found in reality that she had, mortifyingly, thrown herself forward, her arms wrapping around Robin's neck. And not in the strangling manner they often found themselves grabbing hold of, say, Beast Boy. She would have cursed except her lips were already pressed fervently against his, as if they were trying to prove that the feeling from before, the feeling she sometimes woke up remembering, had just been a fluke.

She was able to hold onto that thought for nearly half a minute, almost long enough to pull back and be confident that nothing _had_ changed. That they were the same people they had been.

But she was caught when Robin's arms slid from her hips, where they had been clutching for balance sake, up her back, where his long fingers spread out, drawing her closer than she thought was possible.

Raven could feel the anger, frustration, confusion, and doubt that had been clawing at each other relentlessly inside of her fall into a pit that seemed to open up inside of her. For a moment she wondered if her brain had followed suit when she swayed dizzily, her head light and fuzzy.

Then a second later clarity returned, sharp and striking. She was, _really_, plastered up against the leader of her team, a young man that she had always respected, had come to admire, and whose tentative friendship she had just been beginning to value, locking lips as if it were the last few moments of one of those awful teen romance movies Cyborg was always watching when he thought no one else was around.

Even as the rational part of her mind warned her to step back, to preserve the thin line she had once sworn to keep between herself and all others, for safety, both theirs and her own, the overwhelming majority of both her mind and body was deciding that line was completely overrated.

And so when Robin's tongue brushed lightly against her lower lip, playing absolute havoc with her nerves, she resisted the urge to draw back. Instead she squeezed her eyes a little more tightly and let her mouth fall open slightly, like she had seen in the -_one and only one-_ romantic movie she had covertly watched. And only because she had wanted to see what Cyborg had been being so secretive about.

A thrill ran up along her spine and came out as a quiet gasp when Robin responded with a little more pressure, his lips slightly rough against hers as his tongue slid against her teeth. She felt a tremor in her legs and tried to step back.

But Robin followed, their lips never breaking contact, and she suddenly felt her back press against a wall she was certain had not been there before. It afforded him the opportunity to press himself more firmly against her and she abruptly realized that the two hugs they had previously share had only given her an idea of his body. If she had been able to think clearly, she would have been mortified by the quiet noise that escaped from somewhere in the back of her throat.

His tongue pressed against her front teeth and, of its own accord, she felt her mouth open further. When his tongue slid slowly against her, however, the ball of heat that slammed into her had her shuddering hard enough to break the kiss.

Her eyes fluttered open to see him watching her, his own eyes wide and a little wild behind his black mask.

"Jesus Raven."

"What . . . was it bad?" she heard herself ask and the breathlessness of her own voice startled her. Inwardly she winced at the question but consoled herself with the fact that if he said yes, she would probably punch him.

He shook his head. "No, not-" his voice broke and she was shocked to realize that he seemed just as shaken as she felt.

"It definitely was not bad. In fact, I highly recommend that we do it again," he began, flashing a grin as he ran a hand over his hair. "It was like . . . you were inside of me," he finished.

Raven frowned over that for a moment and then chuckled, surprised the sound could make its way up through the twisted knots inside of her chest.

"Oh. I forgot about that," she admitted. "Technically, I _am_ inside of you. You were probably feeling whatever I was feeling." As soon as the words left her mouth, she shut her eyes again, not sure how she felt about _that_ insight. Her hands slid down from around his neck to his chest, where they pushed in an attempt at separation.

Her eyes flew open a second later at the soft touch on the back of her hand. Robin had tugged off one of his heavy gloves. It lay discarded on the floor of his mind while his fingers were slowly tracing a random pattern on her skin. Each brush left behind a sensation that was both tickling and tingling. When his fingers moved over her wrist she felt a shiver run through her and immediately pulled her hand away.

He grinned. "You feel a lot," he pointed out.

She stuck her hands behind her back, partly to keep them out of his reach and partly to keep from rubbing at the now sensitive skin.

"I noticed," she muttered darkly.

His grin only widened.

"Now what?" she challenged, refusing to answer his smile with one of her own.

Robin sobered almost instantly. "Now? We go to Azarath."

"We?"

"Yeah. I'm going with you."

###

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "You've Lost That Loving Feeling."

Robin: "So, which one is which emotion?" (Points to red cloaked Raven.) "This one has got to be Anger. You look angry."

Anger: "You have no idea."

Robin: "But I have no idea about the rest of them. Like this green one. What's that? Environmental awareness?"

Raven: "Yes Robin, I have an entire emotion devoted to Earth Day.


	14. Substitution

The sleek black motorcycle tore a path through the gentle night, its single bright headlight spreading out over the dark pavement of the highway while the whine of the engine followed far behind. It wove in and out of the sparse traffic leisurely, as if it were only moving for the sake of variety. Bent low near the handlebars, its rider was little more than a continuation of the machine itself-dressed in form fitted ebony and blue with a helmet made seemingly of shadows. Even the visor was tinted despite the darkness.

It easily flew by a silver Porsche Carrera GT and the driver of the expensive car, catching a glimpse of the bike as it whipped through his headlights, muttered, "Death trap."

The skyline of Jump City rolled into view, some of its tall office buildings still alight. Behind them all, like two arms outstretched in a protective embrace, was the imposing T shaped Titans Tower.

The rider gunned the bike's engine and it shot forward out of sight.

###

Raven was not entirely sure how she had gotten into her current predicament and, at the moment, had little idea of how she was going to get out of it. Worse, she had the sinking feeling that there wasn't a way out.

Take Robin to Azarath? Impossible. There were a number of completely logical, _rational_ reasons for this.

1) As she had already said, _several times_, transdimensional travel was extremely difficult. She had no desire to smear Robin or herself for that matter, across the thresholds of multiple worlds.

2) Regardless of past and future events, Azarath was her home. She refused to believe that there was any danger in returning to it. (Despite any internal mutterings that suggested others.)

3) She had said no.

4) Twice.

And yet, there was the aforementioned leader, standing before her and the rest of the Titans, repeating the declaration he had made to her inside his mind.

As if it was his decision.

_Impossible. Out of the question._

The other Titans did not seem to agree. With her, that is.

Starfire nodded firmly and for a moment the worry that had been storming her vivid green eyes for the past few weeks cleared. "Yes. It is good that Raven will no longer be traveling alone."

Raven bristled. "I am completely capable-"

"Yeah I definitely did not like the idea of her going someplace hostile without one of us backing her up," Cyborg interrupted. He started to add something more, but was distracted by a beeping that came from the screen on his forearm.

"Azarath is not a hos-"

"But what are we supposed to do about whoever hired that assassin? And what if Slade shows up? I mean, we can totally handle the tin can man but, no offense guys, our detective skills aren't the sharpest," Beast Boy pointed out, scratching at the back of his head. "What? I'm just being honest dude," he added when Cyborg shot him a glare.

Raven folded her arms triumphantly across her chest. "You see? It would make more sense-"

"I've got a . . . friend who should be able to help with that." Robin glanced idly at his watch. "He should be here shortly."

The room went silent as each Titan contemplated just which _friend_ Robin might have called. He could not have meant . . . that is, there was no way that . . . would he?

"It's not Batman," he added with a hint of exasperation when he looked up and found himself faced with four identical expressions of apprehension.

Beast Boy jerked a shoulder in an attempt at indifference, though it looked more like he was having a minor seizure. "I knew that."

Rolling his eyes, Cyborg ran his fingers over the mini-computer in his arm and the image that had been blinking at him suddenly appeared on the massive television screen in their living room. It showed the long winding road that lead to the Tower and the motorcycle that was currently tearing up it.

"Is that him?"

"Right on time," Robin answered, nodding his head. Then he paused and took a step closer to the screen. Behind their mask, his eyes narrowed. "I think that's my bike."

The back of Beast Boy's head popped up in front of him and tilted to the side. "Dude that so can't be your bike. It's black. There's not even a hint of yellow anywhere."

Frowning, Robin turned and strode towards the elevator, clearing intending to meet their visitor outside.

"Or red for that matter," Beast Boy continued, not noticing as Starfire and Cyborg followed in the footsteps of their leader. "Or green. Or any of your-" he stopped short as he turned and found himself alone in the common room, save for Raven, who stared at him with one eyebrow raised. His head whipped around until it settled on the still open elevator, where the other members of the team were now all standing.

"Dudes! Wait for me!" he complained, morphing instantly into a tiger and launching himself forward.

Raven watched dispassionately as he, upon reaching the elevator's threshold, attempted to slow to a stop. And stop he did, though it came both faster and slower than he intended, as the three other Titans each stepped to the side at the same time and he slammed head first into the back wall. He sat up momentarily, his head wobbling on his neck, before he collapsed backwards.

Robin, Cyborg and Starfire shifted their gazes from him to Raven.

"Coming?" Robin asked, with the barest hint of amusement in his voice, humor that Raven understood was not directed at Beast Boy's buffoonery. Her eyes narrowed to pin pricks, her eyebrows forming an elegant 'v'.

"This is all completely-"

The elevator slid closed.

"-unnecessary," she finished with a low growl to the empty room.

###

The motorcyclist was already waiting for them at the entrance to the Tower's massive garage, leaning casually against his bike, legs crossed at the ankles. His helmet had been stowed away, not that it made much of a difference. The tousled locks that spilled over his forehead and down onto his dark mask were nearly the same exact shade of pitch black. And though the exposed skin of his face was pale, it somehow seemed muted, as if it were well accustomed to the shadows.

He straightened lazily when Robin approached and flashed what most would see as a cheeky, circus performer grin. But Robin knew better.

Dick Grayson had put aside his boyish cheer when he had taken up the mantle of Nightwing.

_At least he had had some in the first place_, Robin's own mind inserted. He frowned at the errant thought.

"For someone who asked for my help, you sure don't look happy to see me."

Robin met the older hero's eyes and motioned with his head toward the bike.

"What happened to your bike?"

Nightwing shrugged. "Nothing. Alfred was cleaning out the garage and thought you might want it."

Robin's frown deepened. "When were you at the manor?" he asked, surprised.

"Last week." Another smile. "It was Alfred's birthday."

Robin closed his eyes. "Shit."

"Forgot?"

"Yeah. I even put it on the stupid calendar he got me."

"I figured. That's why I put your name on the card I got him."

"You mean the card that Barbara got him?"

Nightwing waved his hand idly through the air in front of him. "It was my idea." A look of curiosity came over his face. "When was the last time you were back there anyway?"

When Robin failed to answer, Nightwing let out a low whistle. "You haven't been back," he stated, without even a hint of question in his voice.

Robin kept his eyes level. "Did you really expect otherwise?" he shot back, swallowing the question that he really wanted to ask.

_Can you blame me?_

Shrugging, Nightwing ran his fingers through his dark locks, ruffling them absently. "Honestly Rob, you've always been a bit of a mystery to me. I was surprised that you called."

Robin felt his shoulders hunch at what the simple sentence seemed to imply and he struggled to remain straight backed. "I know that Br-he means . . . more to you," he began carefully not entirely sure of what he wanted to say.

But one of Nightwing's gloved hands flicked dismissively again. "That's not what I meant. You know Bats and I have had plenty of our own disagreements."

Quirking an eyebrow, Robin couldn't help his smile. "You mean like the time you blew up part of the east wing?"

"Not my fault."

"That's not what he said."

"Yes, well, _he_ was the one who refused to tell me what the button did. If he had, I wouldn't have needed to push it, would I? But anyway," Nightwing continued, before Robin could answer, "enough of this bonding, reminiscing crap. Which one of these fellows are in charge when you're away?"

Robin blinked; both in the abrupt change in the conversation and the question itself.

"What? You said you needed my help, not that you needed me to lead your group of merry men. And women," he amended, nodding in Starfire's direction.

Looking back over at his team, it occurred to Robin with a start that he had called Nightwing with the intention of having _him_ lead the team in his absence. It hadn't even occurred to him to set up one of the Titans as temporary leader. And as he met each one of their eyes briefly he realized, guiltily, that none of them had expected differently.

What had happened to him?

Shaking his head lightly, he turned back to Nightwing. "Cyborg's in the driver's seat." He glanced over his shoulder and grinned, trying to push away the dark feelings that Batman's name always managed to bring up in him. "Hell, he's in it half the time I'm here anyway."

Cyborg looked surprised for a moment, before returning the smirk. "That's because I'm the only one with keys to the T-car."

"Does the T-car even have keys? I thought it just plugged into your neural interface," Robin pointed out.

"Details, details," Cyborg replied, waving one arm dismissively in the arm. His smirk disappeared as Cyborg, the de-facto leader, switched into place. "How do you want us to play this, Rob?"

Robin thought of the plans he had half drawn up in his mind and let them go without mention. There was no way he could go with Raven to Azaroth _and_ lead the Titans at the same time. And since he wasn't willing to let Raven make an interdimensional trip into a _hostile_ –he shot a sideways glance at her and saw that she frowned in response, as if she were picking the thought from his head – environment alone, he couldn't afford to hobble the team with his own preconceived battle strategies.

Still.

"Carefully," he answered, shrugging lightly. "That goes without saying. And defensively. We're back to square one in regards to whoever sent the assassin after Raven. There's no telling if they'll send someone else but if they do, it won't take more than one attempt before they realize she's gone. Whether they'll back off at that point, we don't know. But we also don't know if Raven is the only target."

"You think that perhaps there will be attempts on our lives as well," Starfire stated without question.

Robin lifted his shoulders again. "It's possible. So stay sharp. Don't go looking for trouble."

Beast Boy scratched at the back of his head and rolled his eyes. "Dude, trouble always finds us."

"You're the one that gave it our mailing address," Cyborg chimed.

Frowning, Beast Boy scratched harder. "Lame, dude. Seriously lame." He morphed suddenly into a sleek hound and pawed vigorously at his ear.

Cyborg shrugged. "I thought it was pretty funny. What's a matter with you? You need a flea bath or something? Wouldn't surprise me, judging from the state of your room."

The hound growled and then shifted back into Beast Boy. "I don't have fleas. And what's wrong with my room?"

"Are you kidding me? Have you _been in there_ lately? It's like a bomb went off or something. I can't imagine what's breeding underneath those heaps of clothes."

"Uh dude, how are we supposed to play stankball _without any _stankballs!"

Robin held up one hand to draw their attention back. "One last thing." He paused and his gaze shifted away from them to stare out over the city. In reality, though, he did not see it. Instead he saw in his mind's eye a small white box with a thin silver crank. His fingers curled into fists at his sides.

"I've asked Nightwing to prepare a briefing for all of you. I want you to pay close attention to everything he has to say in it." He took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a great pressure on his chest. "I don't have any idea what the Joker could be planning, if he's capable of planning anything, but he's drawn attention to himself for a reason. Whether it's connected with everything else or something completely separate to worry about, we have no way of knowing. But he's a factor now and anytime the Joker is a factor it means trouble that you cannot even imagine. Beyond anything-"

A gentle touch on his arm had him stopping. Turning he saw Starfire watching him with concern in her liquid green eyes and he realized that he had begun rambling.

"We will be careful, Robin," she stated, giving his arm a brief squeeze, as if to reaffirm her words, before releasing it. The breath he had inhaled came rushing back out and he struggled to calm the anxiety that had washed over him. He nodded.

"Okay then. Any questions?"

They stared back at him silently. After a moment Nightwing, who had maneuvered himself behind them, raised one lanky arm.

Robin lifted an eyebrow.

"What exactly is a stankball?"

###

The room was darker than it should have been.

That was the first thing that he noticed when he opened his eyes.

All of the lights were off, the sterile overhead one, the softer table lamp, the small night light that would have served as a guide to the bathroom if he had been able to get out of the bed. Even the faint glow from the machinery surrounding him, bolstering him and the monitors that displayed the unseen conditions of his body was missing. He could still hear its quiet humming though, reminding him of where he was.

The second thing he noticed was that he was not alone. He could see a vague shape at the end of his bed but it was the feeling of a presence that had awoken him. He closed his eyes again and wished that hospital personal was as strict at keeping out super brats as they were at keeping out regular visitors. He also wished that someone, some poor caring soul had had the decency of heart to leave him his gun.

"Go . . . go away, kid. I already . . . told you," Ravager wheezed out.

There was a high pitched giggle. "See that's what Mr. J was afraid of, Ravagy."

He blinked at the unfamiliar voice. "What?" he rasped, his throat dry. "Who are . . ."

"I told him that he didn't have to worry, that you didn't know nothing, but my Mr. J, he's _always_ right. That's why I love him so much."

The sharp sound of whistle came from nearby and the humming of his machines increased. He frowned, the movement sending sharp sparks of pain through his face.

"What . . . what are you . . .talking about?" he asked, frustrated by the amount of time it took him to force the words out. His bed began to vibrate slightly and the whistle shrieked again. Closer this time.

"Well, actually what he said was 'I don't _care_ if he doesn't know anything! Get rid of him anyway!' So, here I am! This won't hurt too much. I mean, not that you'll really notice, considering your current state. Buh bye now!"

The shape danced away. In its place appeared a circular light unlike the square ceiling fixture of his hospital room. The whistle blew a third time.

His eyes widened.

###

RANDOM TITANS THEATER PRESENTS: "A Robin and a Nightwing walk into a bar . . ."

Nightwing: "Nothing. Alfred was cleaning out the garage and thought you might want it."

Robin: "Alfred was cleaning the garage?"

Nightwing: "Yes."

Robin: "And you don't think that's weird?"

Nightwing: "He's the butler. What's so weird about that?"

Robin: "He's a seventy year old guy. And the garage is the size of a football field. And what did he do with all the stuff that was in there while he was cleaning? Put it out on the driveway?"

Nightwing: "It's not that big. It's more like a field hockey field."

Robin: "I'm concerned that you know the size of a field hockey field."

Nightwing: "What? Guys can't like field hockey?"


End file.
